There are precisely zero computing platforms in which one may expect to transfer application code to a device running a different operating system. None.
I own lots of Steam games including BG3 and can play exactly none of them on the Mac because several years into Apple Silicon, even for universal and Apple Silicon native games, Steam won't release Steam that doesn't require rosetta (which I won't install).
Also, Steam charged those games' developers 30%. Which seems to really upset people when Apple charges that.
There are precisely zero computing platforms in which one may expect to transfer application code to a device running a different operating system. None.
Funny. I use Steam every day. I can buy a game and play it on three different operating systems.
If Apple (and Google) didn't prevent competing stores, Steam would probably do the same -- and this is exactly what Epic wants to do.
I own lots of Steam games including BG3 and can play exactly none of them on the Mac because several years into Apple Silicon, even for universal and Apple Silicon native games, Steam won't release Steam that doesn't require rosetta (which I won't install).
Also, Steam charged those games' developers 30%. Which seems to really upset people when Apple charges that.
3 replies →
Multi-platform licenses from a single purchase exist, yes.
On Apple platforms as well. For instance, you can buy one license for all Affinity programs and use them on macOS, Windows, and iPadOS. https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/affinity-pricing/
Steam could do the same thing if they wanted.
Windows, Linux, Android. Literally every major computing platform has portable apps except iOS and macOS.
Windows apps work fine on Linux with Wine most of the time.
Huh? There’s no shortage of compatibility layers and cross-platform applications. Outside of mobile devices it’s more like the norm.
Operating system compatibility layers: WINE, Windows Subsystem for Linux, Linuxulator.
Cross-platform runtimes: JVM, Mono, Electron.
Cross-platform applications: Firefox, Chrome, Oracle DB, Postgres, MySQL, Apache, nginx, etc.
Multi-OS software repositories: Homebrew, Steam, Epic, etc.
Clouds even host FOSS-as-a-service.