General Gaming Article |
- Rumor: Google Working To Merge Android, Chrome OS
- Linus Torvalds Posts Angry Rant Over 'Sh*t Code'
- Batman: Arkham Knight Still Broken? You Can Request a Refund
- AMD to Kill Catalyst Control Center, Replace It with Radeon Software Crimson Edition
| Rumor: Google Working To Merge Android, Chrome OS Posted: 02 Nov 2015 10:08 AM PST Will Chrome OS merge with Android?Unnamed sources told the Wall Street Journal that Google is working to combine Android with Chrome OS by 2017. This rumor has been making the rounds for a couple of years now, especially since Chrome OS chief Sundar Pichai took the Android reins back in 2013. According to the scuttlebutt, like Microsoft, Google is wants one OS to rule all devices from the smartphone to the desktop. The rumor has it that Google engineers have been working on the merge for the last two years. And although the company plans to release the unified operating system in 2017, sources claim that Google will reveal an early version of the hybrid next year. Sources confirm that it will run on PCs and provide complete access to Google Play. Meanwhile, Chromebooks will get a new name. The Wall Street Journal points out that Android is installed on more than one billion phones, tablets, and other devices. Chrome OS, however, isn't quite as popular, installed on AIO computers and laptops. Research firm IDC reports that Chrome OS accounts for less than 3 percent of PCs on the market. That seemingly confirms Google's desire to fold Chrome OS into Android, providing an OS with the "best of both worlds." Looking at the two platforms, they are somewhat opposed. Google's Android is built to download and install apps locally so that they aren't totally dependent on the Internet. Chrome OS sets out to be a quick and lite platform, relying heavily on an Internet connection and using apps based on HTML5. It would be interesting to see how Android and Chrome OS could become a single platform. But will that really happen? After the report was published, Google's Android, Chrome OS, and Chromecast head Hiroshi Lockheimer said that Chromebooks have "tons of momentum" and that the company is very committed to Chrome OS. "I just bought two for my kids for schoolwork," he added on Twitter. The bottom line is that Google wants to make money by getting the Google Play store on as many devices as possible. While there are Android-based laptops and AIOs on the market, we don't hear much about how well they're selling. That said, we're curious as to how an Android desktop could win over new users. With Windows 10 slowly creeping out to Microsoft customers, Android OS may have a tough time pulling customers away from the new platform. As Lockheimer indicates, Chrome OS has done extremely well in the school system. It also seems to be growing in popularity thanks to its performance and low prices. That could mean we'll continue to see Chrome OS devices for years to come despite what insiders might say. Still, with all the talk about merging the two platforms over the last several years, it wouldn't be surprising if the Wall Street Journal's sources are spot-on. |
| Linus Torvalds Posts Angry Rant Over 'Sh*t Code' Posted: 02 Nov 2015 10:07 AM PST Rage mode initiated In case there was any doubt, Linus Torvalds doesn't like sloppy or otherwise inefficient code. I mean, he really doesn't like it. That much was made evident when he let loose with an angry rant on the Linux Kernel Mailing List. It's such an epic rant that you don't have to understand code to appreciate the level of frustration he felt. What set Torvalds off was a bit of networking code he discovered in Linux version 4.3. "Christ people. This is just sh*t.," Torvalds begins. "The conflict I get is due to stupid new gcc header file crap. But what makes me upset is that the crap is for completely bogus reasons." Torvalds gets angrier as the posts goes on, as if typing out his frustration is having the opposite effect of being therapeutic. Check out this snippet: This is the old code in net/ipv6/ip6_output.c: mtu -= hlen + sizeof(struct frag_hdr); and this is the new "improved" code that uses fancy stuff that wants if (overflow_usub(mtu, hlen + sizeof(struct frag_hdr), &mtu) || and anybody who thinks that the above is (a) legible is just incompetent and out to lunch. The above code is sh*t, and it generates shit code. It looks bad, and And that's not even the worst of his tirade. Torvalds goes on to call the code in question "idiotic" and "compiler-masturbation." Save for the adult entertainment industry, there aren't many instances where it's good to have your work compared to self love making. Torvalds doesn't just trash the code in question, he also presents an alternative: if (mtu < hlen + sizeof(struct frag_hdr) + 8) He contends that his code is "more obvious" and "easier to read and understand," and then asks if anyone really wants to dispute those claims. As for the original code? "Get rid of it. And I don't *ever* want to see that shit again," Torvalds says, this time spelling out "shit" without an asterisk. Read the full rant here. |
| Batman: Arkham Knight Still Broken? You Can Request a Refund Posted: 02 Nov 2015 09:27 AM PST Throwing in the towel The only thing worse than waiting for months on a developer to fix a broken game you've already paid for is discovering that the game's still busted once the fix is in place. Okay, maybe that's not the worst thing in the world, but it's certainly annoying. It's also what some gamers who purchased Batman: Arkham Knight are experiencing, and to make things right, Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment is offering full refunds until the end of the year. Here's the statement in full that WB posted to Valve's Steam Community on Halloween. We are very sorry that many of our customers continue to be unhappy with the PC version of Batman: Arkham Knight. We worked hard to get the game to live up to the standard you deserve but understand that many of you are still experiencing issues. Until the end of 2015, we will be offering a full refund on Batman: Arkham Knight PC, regardless of how long you have played the product. You can also return the Season Pass along with the main game (but not separately). For those of you that hold onto the game, we are going to continue to address the issues that we can fix and talk to you about the issues that we cannot fix. Thank you, Arkham Knight released to PC and consoles on June 23, 2015. Not long after, WB suspended sales of the PC version due to widespread complaints of performance issues and glitches. Developers at Rocksteady Studio got busy stomping out bugs and cleaning up code, which led to an interim patch around the third week of August. WB later promised to re-release the title to PC by the end of October, and then made good on that promise last week. WB also announced that it would be giving away copies of Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY, Batman: Arkham City GOTY, Batman: Arkham Origins, and Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate to anyone who already purchased Arkham Knight or buys a copy prior to 11:59 PM PDT, November 16, 2015. It was a nice gesture by WB, but for gamers still experiencing issues, the freebies come as little consolation. They'll have to make do with a refund and an apology. |
| AMD to Kill Catalyst Control Center, Replace It with Radeon Software Crimson Edition Posted: 02 Nov 2015 08:36 AM PST AMD's answer to GeForce Experience If you own and AMD graphics card, don't grow attached to the Catalyst Control Center, it's being replaced by something significantly different and better suited for the modern era of gaming. Meet Radeon Software Crimson, a brand new interface that will do for AMD graphics cards what Nvidia's GeForce Experience does for Nvidia GPUs. In a video announcing the change, Raj Koduri, senior vice president in charge of AMD's recently formed Radeon Technologies Group, says that graphics drivers have evolved into a "mini graphics operating system," essentially an OS for your GPU. Radeon Software is the name AMD has decided to roll with to describe the mini OS, with Crimson serving as the first edition Radeon Software is an attempt to harness all kinds of advanced capabilities through a GUI front-end. Beginning with Crimson, the software will feature individual game profiles that allow users to apply different settings on a per game basis. This includes things like overclocking and FreeSync settings, among others. There's a Game Manager for viewing your library of games and related settings, an Overdrive menu for easy overclocking, menus for customizing your video and movie watching experience, and more. Note however that Raptr will still exist, at least for the time being, providing those who don't like to spend a lot of time manually tweaking settings with a one-stop solution (similar to GeForce Experience). Radeon Software will keep your GPU updated by checking for new driver releases every two weeks (you can also perform manual checks). AMD says it hopes to push out half a dozen WHQL-certified drivers per year. These will be numbered by year and month, so if a driver comes out in January 2016, it would be named Radeon Software Crimson 16.01. AMD is also promising speedier access to various settings. Built from the ground up using the Qt software architecture, AMD says that the startup time for Radeon Software Crimson is much improved -- on an system running an AMD E-350 APU, AMD clocked startup at just 0.6 seconds, down from 8 seconds for Catalyst Control Center. Radeon Software Crimson isn't out yet, though it will be soon. The only concrete timeframe AMD has provided is that the first release will come before the end of 2015. In the meantime, AMD is promising to release more details in the coming weeks. |
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