Microsoft is already responding to the potential shift. The upcoming ROG Xbox Ally X handheld from Microsoft and ASUS will reportedly ship with a gaming-optimized version of Windows 11 with a dedicated Xbox UI and interface that aims to streamline the experience while boosting in-game performance and overall handheld efficiency.

Given how much Microsoft wants to shove AI tools every where in Windows, I don’t think this optimisation will make much of a difference.

I can’t switch because Nvidia Linux drivers suck and AMD X3D chips still have issues.

I already dual boot CachyOS! In fact I spent a lot of time tweaking schedulers, power, undervolting the GPU and such for compute performance, but I think it’s well tuned for gaming too.

It’s just annoying because I beat the GPU into submission with tons of settings (as Nvidia is funny with Wayland), so its display out is totally disabled. It’s a lot to undo.

I can’t switch because Nvidia Linux drivers suck and AMD X3D chips still have issues.

See, that makes it sound to me like you could probably come up with a setup that would do what you want, but that doing so would probably mean making it worse at some of the other things you currently use it for.

Which is where using an external drive for a third installation might be easier. Or at least easier to dispose of if you get sick of the project. But I am perhaps unusually lazy in that regard.

Same here, except for my mom’s computer, because she needs a program for embroidery design that doesn’t work well on Linux despite being in the AUR. It’s called “Embrilliance”, and for some reason the cursor disappears whenever you try to draw freeform, so if anyone has any guidance on that, hit up my DMs, I’d love to solve it for her!

Thanks! Though it doesn’t mean much without a windows reference

I’m pushing my poor 3090 to 4K with just RT reflections but a bunch of mods, and I’m generally getting over 60 with no framegen (which is my target).

FYI I found the game actually looks better with most of the RT disabled:

• RT shadows tend to be blocky and flicker, while raster shadows “miss” more shadows but are razor sharp and stable.

• RT lighting is neat for, say, reflecting a neon billboard, but I find it often clashes with built in raster lighting. For instance, it turns neon signs into blobs and messed up the Arasaka atrium in the intro.

• RT reflections look incredible, especially in rain. No downside as far as I can tell.

• Path tracing is a whole different ballgame my card can’t handle. But (when modded to fix it) it’s apparently extra incredible, and basically disables all the other in game settings.

Check out the digital foundry video too, which shows some of this

You raise an excellent point.

TBH I am both lazy, and a bit paranoid/afraid of dealing with Nvidia rendering issues (even if using my IGP for desktop work), but it would probably be fine and I’m… just being lazy and paranoid.

I don’t think it would make it worse for compute work.

An external 3rd partition does sound appealing, though one quirk is that CP2077 does really like SSDs. I have a slow external SSD, but it still might muddy an A/B test.

Good point about the Windows reference!

I will boot into Windows when I can and see the performance there I’ll report back after I run around the city and outside the city for a little bit!

I am curious to try out NexusMods Linux compatibility with their new modding app, so I haven’t gotten to mod the game yet. I wasn’t going to play through it again (4th playthrough lol) just yet.

I just remember in the “cutscenes” like driving with Panam or Takamura, the RT looking better than the baked lighting. My 2080ti on Windows wasn’t able to handle that all the time (less than 60 with medium RT, no DLSS) but the way the “cutscenes” looked was just so much better with RT on that as soon as they started, I’d turn it on.

I could try it in another DE on my machine to see if that helps first. Maybe Cinnamon or XFCE would be good enough for her needs, I’d set her up with Plasma previously, which she liked but it’s a no-go without Embrilliance. If nothing else, it’s just one air-gapped Windows PC in the house, ultimately it doesn’t matter too much.

If you have a desktop, these work great for swapping SSDs out. Get a pair and swap them out whenever you need/want to. You just need a spare x4 (or larger) PCI-e slot, which is pretty common to have. (Technically they work fine with a x1 slot, but then you are slowing the SSD down.)

Nvidia seems to be the biggest hurdle for most people. The simplest solution I’ve found has been universal Blue, Bazzite (specifically the Nvidia images). You don’t have to think twice about Nvidia as everything is preconfigured for you out of the gate, forever, in perpetuity.

I’m not aware of the x3d issues you speak of.

Anyone know if CP2077 runs better on Linux than Windows?

By much? With HDR?

Sorry for the drive by comment, but this is like the one game my 3090 can’t quite handle to my satisfaction. I’ve thoroughly disabled the thing from rendering in Linux and don’t want to undo all that… But if I could get like another 10% over Windows, that would be incredible. Even 5% would be awesome.

How do you know if someone owns a Steam Deck? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.

So anyway, a couple years ago I bought a Steam Deck. And since I bought it, virtually all of my gaming is on the Deck. Prior to that, virtually all of my game time was on a Windows PC. So, for me personally, there’s been a big shift towards Linux for gaming.

The other big change that’s coming for a lot of people I know: end of Windows 10 support. Honestly, the majority of people I know who still have a traditional Windows PC are using machines that can’t be upgraded to Windows 11. These computers are perfectly functional and do everything the users need them to do, and they have no inclination to go out and buy a new computer just because. Especially in this economy. Additionally, there are quite a few people with computers that are capable of running Windows 11, but they have no desire to upgrade to a worse experience and an experience that is randomly different in a myriad different ways for no good reason. Both groups are ripe for the picking in terms of a switch to Linux. No, the year of the Linux desktop is not here, but the conditions for such a change are building. And this Steam data may present a picture of the larger trend. Who knows?

This is a great use-case for a live Linux environment. Throw one onto a drive and see if it works well, and if not, just restart and go back to what you have.

But, like you said, not a big deal either way.

How do you know if someone owns a Steam Deck? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.

So anyway, a couple years ago I bought a Steam Deck. And since I bought it, virtually all of my gaming is on the Deck. Prior to that, virtually all of my game time was on a Windows PC. So, for me personally, there’s been a big shift towards Linux for gaming.

The other big change that’s coming for a lot of people I know: end of Windows 10 support. Honestly, the majority of people I know who still have a traditional Windows PC are using machines that can’t be upgraded to Windows 11. These computers are perfectly functional and do everything the users need them to do, and they have no inclination to go out and buy a new computer just because. Especially in this economy. Additionally, there are quite a few people with computers that are capable of running Windows 11, but they have no desire to upgrade to a worse experience and an experience that is randomly different in a myriad different ways for no good reason. Both groups are ripe for the picking in terms of a switch to Linux. No, the year of the Linux desktop is not here, but the conditions for such a change are building. And this Steam data may present a picture of the larger trend. Who knows?

It was written in the scrolls. The day prophezised for hundreds of years: the year of the linux desktop.

I wonder how dual boots show up in these stats

With path tracing it runs significantly worse than it does on Windows. Without it, it runs roughly the same. RTX 4060 Ti.