Windows 11 is just round the corner. Big Brother of Seattle would be releasing the next version of Windows very soon. While sometime back they announced Windows 10 would be the last major version to come, it seems that statement aged as bad as Bill Gates’ quote (whether he actually said it or not, still remains a legend):
640K (memory) ought to be enough for everyone
But that is ok, as priorities change. What changed more this time is that Microsoft seems to be following other designs than introducing their own. For the last few releases, their Metro UI, Fluent Design (Windows 10 on desktop/ tablets), etc. have mostly served as new directions in app design. This time though, they came up with something that Linux users have for some time already experienced, especially those on Konqueror Desktop Environment (KDE) Plasma UI. Even GNOME seems to be an inspiration, but the similarities are much more with KDE, and I first thought it was KDE on WIndows. I myself do not use KDE in my daily driver (I have had more stability with GNOME, on Manjaro/ Mint/ Pop OS which I have used the most), but KDE is pretty popular, and it feels great to be part of the Linux community that offered something inspiring to a company who sell OS for a living (at least they did even 10 years ago before Azure came up).
Features like panel, desktop widgets (or desklets), virtual desktops, extended monitor support etc. are not new to Linux and Linux users take them almost for granted (both KDE and GNOME). Putting the start menu at the center had the funniest of justifications, i.e. “to put the user at the center”. I wonder if so far the users were not at the center with Start Menu on the left, what with all the telemetry and data collection that was from the user only. But marketing BS aside, the design certainly looks good, and KDE seems to have had a profound influence on the UX team. There is no harm in copying the good things, whether from Mac OS or Linux. Some will attribute the central dock to Apple, which is true, but even KDE have had that for a long time (taken from Mac OS of course).
Another major change this time is the extra emphasis on games. Some time back it was “developers, developers, developers…” by the legendary Steve Ballmer. This time Microsoft knows that the last bastion that has still not fallen for them, is the support for video games, and this need to be called out explicitly, because Steam/ Proton is breathing heavily on its neck. With more than half of the top 10 games and top 100 games running flawlessly on Linux with Proton, it is not far when even gamers won’t need to use Windows for gaming. Already any person with around 3-4 years of PC experience can find their way through in Linux. My dad’s laptop runs Linux since last 8 years, and not for one day did he face any trouble doing stuff he wants, which is mostly limited to documents/ spreadsheet and occasional browsing/ youtube/ music. Of course, he is not into gaming so that helps, but when more than half games that people play are supported and run well, it is just a matter of time before the dependency ceases.
Microsoft is also focusing heavily of XBOX game pass, which is a pretty good deal for people who play a lot of video games, though the thought of not having the flexibility to play any time after I bought and instead be forced to play when it is in the library, seems to be a downer for me. I still seem to like having options about a product I purchase. But your mileage might vary. Windows 11 seem to have even better integration with XBOX Series, with the introduction of DirectStorage (XBOX Velocity Architecture) in DirectX APIs, which will make games have better parity with XBOX (same code base, engineering design, etc.).
So Microsoft needed to highlight their capabilities in video games support, in which admittedly they are still miles ahead of Linux. However, with recent advancements in Vulkan, DXVK, and Proton (which now even supports DRM apps like Uplay and Origin clients better), it won’t take much long to eventually port the new DirectX 12 Ultimate stuff to Linux as well.
It is indeed a great time to be a PC gamer, and a Linux user.
Hello, new world! 