A lot of software still requires Windows.
Games are a big one for sure, but there is a lot of productivity and creative software that does not run on Linux.
This is a myth and has been for several years. The only games that do not work with linux are ones that have intentionally artificially disallowed the use of linux using kernel level anticheat (rootkit). Many of these games worked on linux until adding no-linux policies to their anticheat.
There is no technical incompatibility, only artificial policy choices that game companies have made
I have been trying to get the sims to work on my wife’s Linux laptop. I can either get it to run at 3-4fps, or I can get it to run without the ability to save anything.
I have Steam deck and with every game I have tried on it so far working, I thought it would be the same with a laptop. Boy was I wrong.
Not sure which Sims you’re referring to, but it looks like it should work: www.protondb.com/search?q=the+Sims+
It looks like The Sims 4 is the only one that might need some tinkering. Stupid EA installers…
Though the only entry for the first Sims game that appears in the results is the “Legacy Collection,” so if you’re referring to like the original CD-ROM or something, it might be different.
Sims 4, and I have tried every version of Proton, I have tried proton ge or whatever it is, I have tried every suggestion in the sims 4 protondb entry.
I have tried the suggestions in my thread about it. (I think there was one I still need to try, actually)
I have the fitgirl repack, I have tried via steam, I have tried the .exe from EA.
What distro of Linux did you install on the laptop? I’ve had no luck getting wine to work on Fedora, but my desktop is running Bazzite which is based on the steam deck OS and I’m games run great (sometimes with tweaking required).
@theunknownmuncher @TheFeatureCreature
Ok let's give you some more software which still don't work with linux
- recordbox
- serato
- traktor
- engine dj
While recordbox 6 still worked in a kvm environment ... recordbox 7 crashes even in this environment.
You can to a certain degree avoid maybe serato or traktor and use "engine dj in a kvm" but recordbox for preparing usb sticks is a must for nearly every dj.
Again, further proving my point. Rekordbox was arbitrarily designed to detect if it is being run with WINE to prevent use with linux. There is no technical incompatibility, only a policy choice, and you can get rekordbox to run with linux if you jump through hoops to defeat the WINE detection.
@theunknownmuncher i used a kvm not wine. My guess it requieres a certain level of HW Acceleration on the GPU Side to be runable ( the new AI Stuff in RB 7.x ).
Fun fact their support wanted me to install a amd gpu driver in my kvm ( i was laughing ) ... after telling them this doesn't make sense i got to some other support unit and they told me this isn't a supported environment and i should keep using RB 6 which basically is getting slower and slower with every release ...
I never gave a reason why a game would/wouldn’t run on Linux. I just said that games are a reason some people continue to use Windows.
It’s a very small subset of games and most are live service microtransaction garbage not worth playing anyway. Many are spyware and viruses disguised as games, eg Valorant
The quality of those games is irrelevant. The user asked why people still use Windows and I gave a few examples. Simple as that.
You are arguing for the sake of it.
I just wanted to chime in that there’s far more reasons that your software doesn’t work on Linux than just the developer saying no.
Basically, if your game or software has to interface with anything at the driver level, such as a keyboard or a headset configuration software, or anything that needs to access complete system access such as kernel level access or being able to see processes outside of the wine environment. It’s going to be incompatible. This is by design for system security and is unlikely to change on official releases any time soon.
Additionally, if the game requires any type of integration into basically anything Microsoft, so be it the Microsoft account services, the authentication token services, multiplayer services, applications on the MS store etc, it’s going to be a no go as they have yet to make a decent translation layer for those systems. Being said with the push for demand of Game Pass on PC, there are people working on those projects, but I haven’t personally seen anything that had decent progress.
I have to hard disagree with the statement that it’s a myth. Yes, many games will work with minor tinkering. However, We are still a long way from having something that is just a click play and it works style system and it’s not usually from developer choices (outside of choosing not to make a Linux distributable)
Being said, it has gone a long way since I started using Linux back with Mint Maya. ProtonDB is an excellent resource to find known workarounds when it breaks, But you definitely should not go into any Linux system expecting it to “just work™”
Tl;dr completely irrelevant since 2022
I’m parroting old talking points because those talking points still exist. They existed in 2022. They existed in 2012 when I started, and they still exist today August 2025.
I said I agree that wines gotten better, but I’m sick and tired of people thinking that it’s some sort of magical unicorn that can just resolve all the inner communication issues with Windows & Linux.
In the last 2 months alone I have had several games that have failed to launch completely. at least 10 games that have required me using a specific proton version. One game that required me to install a custom wine runner that’s specifically configured for the game to function, a handful of software incompatibilities, The most annoying of which being the software that is supposed to make my headset compatible with the computer, which required me due to the fact it’s not compatible with wine, to have to make my own audio profile to split the two mixes it has, and I’m currently working on a custom user interface for it to allow me to actually change the settings on the headset.
All of these examples are completely ignoring the reason that you provided of companies not wanting to support it. It’s just the support doesn’t exist in the current wine infrastructure. If we’re including the games that are using kernel level AC or disabling the usage on Linux, that list becomes bigger.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 21 hours ago
Unless we’re talking about the handful of kernel-level anti-cheat games where the devs have refused to allow Linux support through Proton, nearly every game you own will work. Most of them without any tinkering whatsoever.