Hasta La Gadget!

Today Valve has announced that the Steam client for Linux is now available. The app is now available for download through the Ubuntu Software Center, and of course, as with all major announcements on Steam, the gaming service is holding a week-long sale on 50 Linux games for up to 75% off of their normal price.

The sale is actually pretty decent, with a number of popular titles getting huge discounts. The games are mostly indie titles, but there’s a number of games that are well worth the cost. For instance, Counter-Strike: Source is only $5, while Trine 2 is only $3.74. You can also get World of Goo for $2.49, and Amnesia: The Dark Descent (a fantastic horror game) for only $5.

The best part is, while all these game are for Linux, they’re also compatible for Windows and Mac, so if you don’t use Linux, you can still take advantage of the sale. Half-Life is $5, and a couple of Penumbra games are only a couple of bucks each. There’s 50 games in total, all of which are at least compatible with Windows, with just a few missing Mac support.

Valve first discussed Steam for Linux last year in April, and opened up the beta to the public back in December. The client supports Valve’s new Big Picture mode, where you can play games and navigate through the client on your big-screen living room television. Plus, Steam supports cross-platform play, so you can start a game on one OS, and finish it later on another.

Steam for Linux available now is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Whatever hoops the Linux Foundation had to waddle through to get an MS-signed bootloader for use on Windows 8 hardware, it appears to have worked. Whereas Ubuntu and Fedora already had UEFI Secure Boot support, and there was the Shim bootloader and other fixes for smaller distros, this official solution promises to be more user friendly and universal, albeit with a few caveats that are described by MJG59 at the link below. Once you’re sure you want it, head over to the source with a USB key and do the honors.

Filed under: Software, Microsoft

Comments

Via: MJG59

Source: Linux Foundation

Linux users probably have their own productivity suites which act as replacement or substitutes for Microsoft Office, but if you’re a Linux user and you just love the functionality and features of Microsoft Office, there are rumors suggesting that Microsoft could be working on porting their Office productivity suite onto the Linux platform come 2014. This rumor was thanks to a “source” who some speculate might be one of Microsoft’s open source developers, and they claim that Microsoft is taking a “meaningful look” at releasing a full Linux port of Microsoft Office in 2014.

Considering that this is rather sudden and there has been no evidence or reason for Microsoft to do so in the past, what gives? Apparently this is because Microsoft has seen Linux become more commercially viable and what better way to spread your brand around than by creating software for rival platforms. After all, Microsoft has released Office for Mac OS X, so Linux might not be such a stretch of the imagination after all. It also seems that the port to Linux might not be as hard as one might think because if you recall, last year we reported on a rumor that Microsoft Office for iOS and Android was a possibility, and since Android is a Linux-based OS, a lot of work would have already been done. What do you guys think? Is this a possibility or is it completely ridiculous?

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Including The iPad, Report Claims Apple Owns 20.1% Of The PC Market, Teen Quits Facebook For $200,

The budget board makers over at the Raspberry Pi Foundation are clearly having a busy week, first launching the Model A in Europe, and now reporting that development of the camera add-on for the miniature computers has been completed. Well, the hardware has been finalized, at least, although it hasn’t been “tuned” quite yet (picture quality still needs improvement), and the drivers aren’t fully ready. The camera PCB measures around 25 x 20 x 9mm, and hosts a 5-megapixel, fixed-focus sensor that can shoot 2592 x 1944 stills and 1080p video at 30 fps. Aligning with the low cost of the main boards, it’ll set you back $25, but won’t be available for “at least a month.” Don’t just sit there twiddling your thumbs, though. Start brainstorming all the cool projects you can work on once you put an eye on that Pi.

Filed under: Desktops, Cameras, Misc, Peripherals

Comments

Via: Wired

Source: Raspberry Pi

Bitcasa made some serious waves when it hit the scene in December, offering bottomless cloud storage for $10 per-month or $99 for a full year. The service is now leaving beta, with the promised Mac and iOS apps in tow. And, just as icing on the cake, a Linux client is also on the way (and already available in alpha form). While going gold isn’t going to change a lot about Bitcasa in the short term, at least the company knows how to celebrate right — with steep discounts! Sign up for the service during the month of February and you’ll get a full year of Infinite Drive for $60 $69. You can sign up at the source and peruse the PR after the break. We’re already busy backing up our My Bloody Valentine bootlegs.

Update: As some of you have noticed, the price being advertised on the Bitcasa site is $69 for the year, not $59 as the press release states. We’ve updated the post to reflect the advertised cost and asked for a clarification.

Filed under: Storage, Internet

Comments

Source: Bitcasa