But then, when Jobs returned to Apple, it was Gates and Microsoft who helped resurrect the company with both monetary investments and support in the form of porting Office and other Microsoft apps to make Macintosh computers viable for the non-niche enthusiasts that the platform had shrunk to.
great to know that, I honestly didn't know. I always considered Apple and MS mortal enemies.
I'm not sure Valve is the real threat. Yeah, I know SteamOS is coming for other devices, but it currently has limited compatibility, especially where multiplayer is concerned. And it's really only seen as a gaming OS. I don't know if SteamOS is ever going to get the market penetration that even ChromeOS has.
Microsoft's Windows platform, much like the company itself, has often lacked visionaries. To regain its edge, Windows needs to become more user-friendly and embrace a console-like experience, akin to the gamification that transformed mobile phones.
Despite being the best operating system for gaming, Windows risks losing millions of its gamer base if it doesn't improve. This scenario is reminiscent of Microsoft's previous oversight: while they poured gaming resources into Xbox, Valve was quietly overtaking them from the left, right, down, and up directions with their PC gaming initiatives and gaining market share.
Fortunately, Microsoft is now addressing these shortcomings. They appear to be collaborating with manufacturers to develop console-like mini PCs, which could bridge the gap between traditional PCs and gaming consoles.
Regarding SteamOS, the market for it might seem small now but once it gets traction and improves its shortcomings Windows might have a tough rival. Many people that uses Windows 11 are gamers, and that's a good chunk of the Windows market for MS. Some Lenovo Legion Go and Rog Ally X owners are starting to use Bazzite instead of Windows, which is unexpected, and find the experience much better.
It's great that Windows is meant for productivity too, but it's a heavy, unfocused OS using resources on things that any people don't use nor need. And even if you do that on a productivity environment, that's okay, but not for gaming purposes, where Windows should just go for performance first over any other consideration.
Dunno how they are going to make that possible but lots of people just use Windows to game on. Also, something obvious over the years I've been using PCs -and Windows-, since late 1995, is that any decent PC for gaming is a monster PC when it comes to productivity.