Windows 8 Is A ‘Catastrophe’, according to the CEO of Valve Corporation, Gabe Newell.
Speaking at the Casual Connect game conference in Seattle, Gabe Newell said “Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space.”
See Mashable Gabe Newell comments hereMany commentators took his comment as a criticism of the changed user interface in Windows 8.
No doubt this is certainly a pretty widely held view that Windows 8, with its attempt to be all things to all devices – now Tablet Touch OS, now Classic Windows Desktop OS, is so radically different that users, and Enterprise users in particular, will revolt faced with this massive overhaul of Windows.
However, as great a soundbite as Newell’s may be, Newell was reportedly upset about the way Windows 8 would effect PC game sales because Windows 8 will come with a Windows Store included in the operating system, and Microsoft will take a 30% cut from developers on that store, thus threatening Valve’s margins.
Newell went on to say “I think we’ll lose some of the top-tier PCs, and OEMs who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people”
So much ado about nothing – but, but – Windows 8 may well turn out to be a catastrophe for Microsoft and its estimated 700 million users – a topic we will cover another day.
