L4D2 Runs Faster on Linux than Windows

The disclosure comes as part of Valve's ongoing efforts to optimize the Source engine to the Linux platform, following which, it plans to port more of its game franchises, such as Half Life, Counter Strike, Team Fortress, and Portal. The games will be available on Ubuntu with SteamPlay, allowing users who already own a license for the Windows or Mac OS X versions to simply download and play the game on Ubuntu, without any purchases.

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Valve says NVIDIA's the best, Steam and Left 4 Dead for Linux coming along nicely

The godfather of Linux, Linus Torvalds, may think that NVIDIA is "the worst," but Valve respectfully disagrees. The company has been working closely with the manufacturer, as well as AMD and Intel, to boost performance of its hardware under the open source OS. The developer clearly has an interest in getting the best from those companies as it works to port Left 4 Dead 2 and Steam to Linux. That close partnership is already bearing impressive fruit as Valve claims its co-op zombie shooter now performs better on Ubuntu than it does under Windows 7 using a GeForce GTX 680. The first Open GL Linux version managed a measly six frames per second, while the Direct X powered Microsoft one was topping 270. Only a few months later, and Left 4 Dead 2 is hitting 315fps on the 32-bit version of Precise Pangolin, outperforming even the Open GL Windows port which sits at 305fps. Of course, it's relatively well established that Ubuntu has lower overhead and running Direct X only compounds the issue, though, its unparalleled driver support can't be denied. While it's not completely fair to compare performance on a 32-bit OS to a 64-bit one, Valve is proving that gaming on Linux need not be some proof-of-concept exercise. Linus can flip NVIDIA the bird all he wants but, through its work with Valve, it may be doing more to bring Linux to the mainstream than anyone previously has.

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Valve says NVIDIA's the best, Steam and Left 4 Dead for Linux coming along nicely originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Aug 2012 15:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Raspberry Pi impressions: the $35 Linux computer and tinker toy

The ledgers of history are littered with the rotting corpses of well intentioned, but ultimately unsuccessful, attempts to put computers in the hands of the young, underprivileged or severely impoverished. Some, like Intel's Classmate wanted to put cheap, durable Wintel machines in every American classroom, while others, like the OLPC program, focused their efforts on developing nations. Okay, perhaps it's a bit hyperbolic to compare those initiatives to decomposing bodies, but there's no denying they haven't exactly flooded the world with low-cost PCs the way they were envisioned. So, here comes the Raspberry Pi, another effort with lofty goals, both in terms of purpose and price. Of course, the approach is different here -- more barebones, with a healthy dose of inspiration from Arduino and the DIY movement. The question is, what has it learned from those that have come before it? And, most importantly, where does the Raspberry Pi go right and where does it go wrong? To find out, keep reading after the break.

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Raspberry Pi impressions: the $35 Linux computer and tinker toy originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Jun 2012 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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