Almost all major online multiplayer games are set up to run either mac (apple) or microsoft as a choice for software.
Literally NONE of them are set up for Linux, oh the developers LOVE unix/linux software and use it for themselves and to some extent to write the codes for the other two, how, I don't know, but I have been in chats with a few of them.
Steam is a launching platform and converts a game to what ever system you use.
A lot of the "heavy graphic" games won't work with steam, it causes video lag and game play is decreased. In a player vrs. player environment frame rate and connection rate is paramount, or you die.
I am currently thinking of buying a "used" laptop to play with the Linux side (my little asus is now a security system), I remember using Linux to log into my battlenet account for one of my games without using "wine", or so I think I did. Something about searching the windows side of the hard drive file system and "attaching" the .exe file to the desktop or some such (my memory sux).
I might use my wife's little asus to experiment with.... well, maybe, if she lets me
I purchased a little rca tablet for her to take when she goes out, so she rarely uses her asus now. I will just dual boot it like I had on my asus and go from there.
Back on point.....  
When it comes to gaming, windows is king at the moment, developers are hating the fact that they might actually have to listen to thier customers and re-write their software to include yet "another" operating system spec.
However, with the open source, it could get tricky, because a lot of folks use "third party" software to "add on" to a game to enhance it for ease of use gaming. The add-on software lets them do things the original game was not designed to do, like map coordinates, memorize path of player through an area, location of treasure memory, ect.... Most companies allow it, only if the developer submits the code to the company for approval, and a third OS would mean more company man power to search codes for bad things....
Ok, now throw Android into the picture....I don't even know how to class it... Google?
So then you would have four different software setups per game.... I'm not sure developers would go for that.
And due to the popularity of the Android software, I would think Linux would be pushed to the side and Android would be the next to step into the gaming OS software alliance, but, it hasn't been turned into a PC software yet......
So the gaming delema for me is this.... I HAVE to stick with Microsoft, Apple computers are OVERPRICED and not affordable to me. Android has yet to step into the PC arena as a viable gaming system software. The major gaming industry will not consider even writing game software until sales show a distinct rise and 100's of thousands of gamers are online with that OS and complaining to have the games in Android versions.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/skylake-support

There is now a LISTING (by brand) of the "retro-fitable" PCs that are being sold today that are the only ones that allow you to plunk down a copy of Win 7 or Win 8.1 on them.   A very limited listing.

Microsoft is serious about forcing you to buy Win 10 on any new machine you buy .......    

Intel is working with MS, as Intel wants you to buy a new processor from them (despite the fact it has not a lick better throughput than what you actually own now, just a little bit better built in graphics and a little lower current draw on the power supply)

This is something the folks here in the good ol' USA will have to look into.

When I purchase a computer the hardware is mine, but the software I use is not, and I am subjected to updates, or any "improvements".

Now, I own the physical components, but, what about the imbedded software on the memory based components that runs them?

Who owns that software? This is where that gray line is forming, subsidiaries of Microsoft that are partners, are obligated by contract to insert those lines of code to block dual boots or the removal of win 10 and installation of different OS software.

I doubt that there is a single manufacturer of a windows machine being sold that does not have a contract with them.
So, where does that leave us? We where never told by the supplier about EUFI secure boot requirements, heck, there wasn't anything like this on my hardware when I purchased it.

Should the people who purchased machines before the EUFI secure boot software lock petition congress?
Microsoft is actually writing software that CONTROLS your personal hardware completely.
You do NOT have the freedom to install other software onto your personal machine.

Well that's a kettle of fish on high isn't it?

I'm sure there are ways that folks will hack the system, but me as a normal PC using joe, well, we are stuck.... and that just plain sux donut?

But like I said in my last post.... its the gaming companies that are locked into windows because windows users are the majority, and that's where the money is.
Perhaps in the future when folks start using the fastest bestest software that's not locked into their machines, things will change, my grand kids might have that option  

Why doesn't sony come out with a PC? they have tons of multiplayer games and the play station is nearly a pc unto itself.

The problem with Microsoft XP, the support for it will stop in 2017....
The support for the IE for XP has stopped, I use firefox on the asus.

I have told you this for a while now, that all the "Chromekiller PC laptops" are so underpowered and underspec'd that they become unuseable pretty quickly in the real world.

The marketplace for these machines is generally young people and they tweet and facebook to each other constantly about machine this and machine that.  

To say they know a lot about tech is saying it very mildly .....

So, what follows shouldn't surprise you.

http://www.extremetech.com/computing/221916-chromebooks-reportedly-killing-lo...


Chromebooks are reportedly killing low-end PC laptops.

A new report suggests Windows PCs don’t just face a challenge from tablets and smartphones, but are increasingly under fire from within their own brand segment. Chromebooks, the web-based Google alternative to a Microsoft or Apple-powered laptop, have been slowly gaining ground since they debuted in 2011.

Chromebooks are just a fraction of the PC market, at 2.8% in 2015, but that’s up from 1.9% in 2014. That’s an increase of 47% in just a year — not bad for growth when the PC market as a whole continues to take a beating.

In response, companies like HP and Dell are reportedly cutting their losses and mostly leaving the sub-$300 PC space. Acer, Asus, and Lenovo continue to offer some PC products from $180 to $300, but we may see these products gradually phase out if they don’t sell well enough to justify their own existence.

You could argue the surge in Chromebook sales is proof the venerable Wintel Alliance is no longer capable of defending itself, even on its own turf.

Let’s be honest: Cheap Windows systems suck

I realize that the header above may sound a bit pejorative or unprofessional, but I’d challenge anyone to refute it. Anyone who has had to guide a friend or family member through a budget-restricted, low-end laptop purchase knows that the entire process is a nightmare. Because manufacturers often run specials or markdowns on specific SKUs, trying to identify the best system on any given day involves wading through a morass of nearly identical specifications. Many of these bottom-end systems have at least one “gotcha” — a terrible keyboard, an insanely sensitive trackpad, or a display with viewing angles so narrow, it accidentally doubles as a security window. Inexpensive systems tend to have more bloatware than more-expensive hardware, and often carry the fewest support options.

There is a difference between buying a no-frills budget PC product with solid basic performance and buying a bad laptop. All too often, inexpensive PC computer hardware crosses that line — and the cheaper you go, the worse it gets.

And, because Google enforces hardware standards you get a GOOD trackpad, a fairly good keyboard and a screen that is acceptable, even on the very cheapest Chromebook.



And I find it AMAZING that an $89 refurbie Hisense Chromebook can respond quicker and do web work better than a $250 MS Win 10 "Chromekiller' laptop.   But, yep, it can.

Having read this stuff for several years now, you DO KNOW more than 90% of normal people.

And yes, I bet you do know the difference between an ARM chipset (RISC) and Intel chips (CISC) and I bet you can say who controls what market with what sort of chipset.

You and Serobot just luv to play ignerant so as to spoof on the pedantic ......    

http://liliputing.com/2016/01/orange-pi-one-is-a-tiny-quad-core-pc-for-10-plu...



Orange Pi One is a tiny quad-core PC for $10 (plus $4 shipping)


Let us stroke our imaginations while looking at this picture of a 4 core 32 bit computer costing a whopping $14 after shipping ......




When Android includes all the Jide type tricks, this will be a desktop PC ........

doc's say 512 ddr ram (picture says 256)

hard drive (spinny kind or otherwise) can be added by USB port

of course, E&OE