You want more windows users? Focus the gamers

[ark_t931]

I think if you can get a sound version of playonlinux running and have a basic OS that runs the most minimal resources so that when they run windows apps/games through pol they dont have to install the needed files to run it, but they install themselves.

All people really want is a fast OS with their desired options already pre-installed for gaming, I understand that you would also have the drivers needed for their pc. But that in a nutshell would be awesome if mint could do this. I am aware of the linux OS options are out there for this. But I prefer mint because of ease of use (yes the signs of a windows user lol).

Having a mint OS for windows gamers would be awesome. Even having an open source screen cast or recorder would be like the perfect touch.

[gm10]

The problems were never the software - install steam (enable Steam Play) and obs-studio and you're covered with gaming and streaming - the problem are the drivers for the newest hardware that gamers like to field.

[lsemmens]

Rather than focus on the gamers, who would jump ship at the drop of a hat if a better OS for their game came along, You need to focus on the developers of said games to convince them that LINUX is worth developing for. The only reason that gamers stay with M$ is because their favourite game is not available in Linux. No gamer that I know of willingly allows an OS to get in the way of his favourite game running at the highest resolution possible.

[samriggs]

Orrrr do what I do, keep linux for the computer and buy a gaming console for games, unless your a die hard pc gamer only, then yup theirs steam

[Hoser Rob]

Orrrr do what I do, keep linux for the computer and buy a gaming console for games, unless your a die hard pc gamer only, then yup theirs steam

Game comsoles is what many OS X gamers use, or you could just dual boot with WIndows, which I would still do if I was a gamer.

Unfortunately the list if things needed to make Linuix a viable gaming platform is is a HELL of a lot longer than the OP realizes.

[MLW]

Steam's already working on that. The cost of a hard drive is a lot less than the cost of an inferior console with a locked market. I dual boot. I've never run into any problems. Gaming or compatibility issues really isn't what's holding Linux back. What's holding Linux back is the popularity of Windows. The only one who can threaten Microsoft's market hold is them, and they will. All Linux has to do is make sure that it remains the better alternative.

[Hoser Rob]

Want more gamers? Try optimizing Linux video drivers, and the game code, better first. It's absolutely routine for a Linux version of a steam game to run at far lower fps than the Windows one, with supposedly properly Linux supported video cards. Back to square one.

[borg101]

I think if you can get a sound version of playonlinux running and have a basic OS that runs the most minimal resources so that when they run windows apps/games through pol they dont have to install the needed files to run it, but they install themselves.

All people really want is a fast OS with their desired options already pre-installed for gaming, I understand that you would also have the drivers needed for their pc. But that in a nutshell would be awesome if mint could do this. I am aware of the linux OS options are out there for this. But I prefer mint because of ease of use (yes the signs of a windows user lol).

Having a mint OS for windows gamers would be awesome. Even having an open source screen cast or recorder would be like the perfect touch.

So I have a few thoughts on this, then some recommendations. Welcome to the Mint forums! I saw you only have a few posts and I just want to say hello and tell you about my experience. So...hello! lol. So I have played with Linux on and off since late highschool and a bit in college ~late 90's early 2000's. I said the same thing as your post here. About 2 years ago, thanks to the people on here on the Mint forums, The Linux Gamer YouTube channel, Bryan Lunduke's Linux sucks series, and one or two other influencers I'm sure I'm forgetting....I decided to go full time Linux. And at first....it was really difficult. But I realized that the difficulty was only due to my unfamiliarity, not the OS or softwares' fault. I've always loved open-source projects. Almost all of us PC gamers have run hacked games, hex-edited save files, ran trainers/cheat engines. Even if some of us didn't do that at all, we at least visited mod sites to get extra files for whatever game we were into. There are literally pages dedicated to doom, quake, duke nukem, etc, etc properties that have been running for 10+ years at this point. And that's what I realized is cool about Linux. It's free and open and completely moddable. On top of that, it's secure and it's private. Windows has had backdoors for decades and decades. It's the most popular OS so it's the most hacked, virused, etc. etc. Windows 10 sends data that we don't authorize or know about...even if we opt out of data collection services...all over the web.

So I made a committent to myself. I will only support developers that support the Linux platform. By doing so, developers are, potentially, telling me a few things. First, they realize there is a large/wide audience out there and they cater to everyone and not just one specific group. Second, they care about privacy. Third, money isn't necessarily the most important part of the equation.

At first it was difficult. But once I learned more about Linux; file structure, permissions, some terminal/command line functions, etc...it got easier. After a few months of Mint, I was comfortable trying a lot of other distros. I set my Steam store to only show Linux friendly titles. Now I'm playing with Arch and Fedora just for fun. I started looking for alternatives to Windows/Google only products and services I frequently use. And to tell you the truth...the more I look, the more I realize how limited we truly are on closed platforms. My work laptop and phone (Android) are required to run Windows 10, Outlook, Office 365, etc....*shhh*...don't tell anyone I have a live Fedora USB . I cannot tell you how many times I've had Outlook tell me there was an email, then I check my email and the message wasn't there. Check spam/junk....nope. Turns out, it auto inserts email chains into messages. So I turned it off....still does it. Focused inbox/Other inbox? Yeah I've missed messages auto sorted there as well. I've seen Power Point failures, web conference/skype failures, and others. Linux and other open-source software do fail and have hiccups. But it's completely open and decentralized, so getting and finding fixes are incredibly easy.

Anyway, sorry for the long-winded message. I hope you stay with us (....dude....that sounds like a cult! lol). If you need help, this is by far one of the friendliest, easy to use, and expedient forums I've used.