Valve to Deliver Steam & Source on the Mac

[Dwood]

Not kidding at all, if you want to build a gaming computer you install Windows. It's that simple. And when you say "Linux computers' you're really just talking about PC's running different operating systems, and when it comes to gaming, more limited operating systems. So you're still comparing "PC's" to "Macs", since Macs use completely different hardware (with the exception of some of the newer Intel based Macs)...

Oh and you can get Nvidia GTX 285's (see: the most powerful single GPU video card from Nvidia) for Macs.

Macs do not use completely different hardware than normal PCs, I have no idea what you're talking about unless you want to go back 4+ years in Apple's history. The only thing different between a Mac and PC is that Apple builds the computer and the Operating system... It's not just some of the new Intel-based macs, it's all the Intel-based macs... using the same hardware. And not only that, the card you linked me to has two flaws.

Calgary NE: Limited Quantities
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Winnipeg West: Out of Stock

And the card only works//fits in the macs that are the normal towers. If you want it in a mactop (Laptop lol) it just won't happen. I'd say 90% of Apple's desktop market is the iMac... and you can't even fit that card in them. This isn't to say that mac makes bad computer, per say, but the Mac has half as much gaming capability possible//available as a PC. And yes, I do distinguish between PC and Mac because they are both completely different models for making computers. One (on the pc end) Has a company or open software group producing the OS and letting the user basically use any set of hardware that has drivers for the OS, and then on the Other, Mac end, Apple builds the computers, and the OS, with limited customization possible.

[Bhamid]

If Valve make decent amounts of money from the Mac side of business, perhaps they might consider a Linux port - they already have Open GL and Webkit, so porting wouldn't be as huge a task. Also, when will 3rd party devs start selling their work on it (id, Blizzard etc)?

[flibitijibibo]

Your Mac Questions Answered

Yesterday, we announced that Steam and all our Source engine games will be coming to the Mac. Sound too good to be true? Well, guess what: It is true! There are no catches! Sometimes life actually works like that. The bad news is that we've just truth bombed your hard-earned lie detector back to the stone age, and you'll probably lose all your money to the next international lottery scam that sneaks through your spam filter. Still, Steam on the Mac!

Since we're getting a lot of email asking the same basic questions, we figured we'd just answer them here:

Q: I own TF2 on the PC. Do I have to buy it again on the Mac?
A: No. If you own TF2 on the PC, you own TF2 on the Mac (and vice versa). You don't have to buy the game twice. In addition, the Steam Cloud will automatically propagate your configuration settings and custom sprays to your Mac for you.

Q: Is it just some crappy emulated version of TF2?
A: No! Also: How dare you! Mac users aren't getting a crappy emulated version of the game. TF2 will run natively on OSX, like an actual big boy game for adults.

Q: Hmm, that all sounds pretty good. But I'll bet I can't play with my friends who own Macs if I'm on my PC.
A: Mac and PC users will all play together, on the same servers. We're not creating two separate universes. We're all going to be one big, happy family with guns locked in a bloody, never-ending struggle for cap points.

Again, this'll be great if I'm ever forced to move to Macs. (Hopefully not though, Pro Tools is Windows capable...)

[DEElekgolo]

Buying a mac is like having your mommy pick out PC parts for you and forcing you to keep that setup for the next 2 generations of computer hardware. Also seeing something like hammer on a mac brings bad images of the kind of content a mac user will have.

Though I enjoy the approuch they had to make sure that Mac nor PC get anything exclusive in the porting.

[flibitijibibo]

Implying that the Mac user you're imagining will be able to wrap their head around Hammer/server hosting?

Nah dude, it'll be fine. Occasional elitist, but nothing a kick won't fix.

[Atty]

Can't wait to see similar hardware configuration benchmark tests between OS X and Windows 7.

[Warsaw]

It can go both ways. It can either run comparably on the two platforms with the same hardware because they don't feel they need to do better...or it can be better optimized under OSX since there are less variables with Mac hardware options than with PC options.