> Gamers like Valve more than they like Microsoft.

Thanks for making me laugh.

How is that whole Year of Desktop Linux going?

Had SteamDeck not been released wihtout Windows and DirectX "emulation", the usual 2% folks would be the ones using it.

It's all anecdotal, but yeah. I'm a gamer and I like Valve more than Microsoft. By a wide, wide margin.

Same. For sure. Any pure player whose existence depends on gaming (or whatever) is going to be preferable to a behemoth like Microsoft who can promote infinite agenda-ridden VPs who disappoint customers, but because the losses are survivable they keep doing it.

MS has been like this for a long time. Just ask all the PlaysForSure music owners.

How is that SteamMachine support going?

Support for SteamOS v1/2, the one on Deck is rebased on Arch, lasted to 2018 which is when Proton entered the picture. If that wasn't good enough (fair enough) they were just PCs so you could install Windows on it if you felt you weren't being well served. Or a Linux distro, where the game experience is better than it ever has been largely thanks to projects sponsored by Valve.

So for the very few people who bought them, I'd imagine they're unlikely to be all that upset.

Badly, I imagine :)