Rename "Featured PC Games" to "Featured Windows Games"

[Rabcor]

It may have made sense to certain people to call PCs with an apple logo on it Macs, and PCs not with an apple logo on it PC at some point. Apple kinda marketed their products to roll that way.

But it's getting kinda old don't you think?

Name Windows, Windows; not PC. OSx can be Mac or OSx for all I care, It was originally named MacOS to begin with. Linux can stay as linux. but this madness of linking the term "PC" to the Windows operating system must end! The word PC according to my understanding originally came from IBM PC which definitely did not have windows; not even DOS on it.

PC is a very broad term meaning Personal Computer; it has become kinda synonymous with desktops but technically it applies to laptops and OSx based computers as well. It's just a term for "Computer that is designed to be affordable and useful to individuals rather than big companies"

Or would you call a BSD system Mac? (OSx, or MacOS was originally modified BSD kernel)

Sure this may just be some small detail; but it's kind of misleading for people who don't know better, and then we get stupid youtube videos.

Like this. See what I mean? misleading for people who don't know anything about computers or operating systems that is.

I mean we are calling this "PC Gaming" aren't we? even if we're on Mac or Linux. Sure we have Mac Gaming and Linux Gaming as slang, but in the end it's all PC Gaming and seeing what valve is trying they're trying to unify the banner even more so it'll just be "Gaming" rather than platform specific with SteamOS.

So please Valve, fix this. It's just one misleading word on your front page.

[Τhe Rolling Cheese Wheel]

Windows Gaming sounds stupid. PC gaming rolls off the tongue better. It's so far ingrained in to the minds of the general populace that changing it now would not be a wise decision. It would just cause mass confusion.

If it isn't broken, why fix it?

PC gaming is gaming on windows.
Mac Gaming is on Osx.
Linux Gaming is on all flavors of linux. No one is about to use Ubuntu gaming or LinuxMint gaming if you want to get technical.

[Satoru]

Whether you want to argue semantics or not, PC is synonymous with "Windows".

Apple didn't launch the "Mac vs PC" ad campaign under the guise that people were going to be magically confused the PC's might mean Macs.

If we're talking about technical details, or historical reference, sure ou can be really really particular about terminology. Just like people who cheat or do phishing attacks are not 'hackers'. But colloquially that's just a catch all term for those things. Don't be pedantic about the colloquial usage. If we're hat BlackHat sure you can complain about the uber detailed semantics between hackers, crackers, phreakers, etc. But dont whine that some run of the mill person doesn't know the difference. Any more than the run of the mill person really isn't going to equate PC with the 'generic term' it's supposed to denote.

[Rabcor]

Originally posted by Τhe Rolling Ham Cheese:

No one is about to use Ubuntu gaming or LinuxMint gaming if you want to get technical.

Only a matter of time if you ask me. Android gaming for example?

Yes, PC is synonymous with windows... and mac... and linux... and BSD...

And yeah sure, you can call skids, crackers and phreakers and whatnot just hackers. but you can't just pick one skid out of the bunch, you need to call all of them hackers not just one including all the skids and all the crackers and all the phreakers if you want to use it as a "catch 'em all" term.

So according to your logic it should all just be PC game, no mac, no linux, no windows, just PC game. I like it, too bad it can't just be that simple.

[Pewpewmoar]

Can't we just go back to calling them IBM PC/Compatibles?

[WildCat]

I fully agree with you, Riful. I actually created a topic about this on the old Steam forums back in 2012 - before they had Linux games on the Store...

Misnomers on the Store

I thought they would surely change it when they added Linux games but they didn't and I can barely believe it.

[Rabcor]

Baffles me too, as you can see :P

[Roxor128]

"PC gaming" does not mean "gaming on Windows". That's like saying "console gaming" means "gaming on the Nintendo Wii" or that "mobile gaming" means "playing games on the Apple iphone".

It's more genreal than that.

"PC gaming" means "gaming on a personal computer". Whether it runs Windows, MacOS, or Linux, is irrelevant. It's still a PC.

[Satoru]

Again whether you like it or not colloquially PC gaming means "Windows". Colloquially the usage term is correct.

[Gus the Crocodile]

As I see it, it being "colloquially correct" doesn't matter. I mean it's true, absolutely, that PC is often taken to mean Windows. But it's also true that Windows means Windows. The question shouldn't be "which case is true?", it should be "which case better fits the purpose of these labels?". Seeing as the labels are clearly about operating systems, it seems much more appropriate to name the operating systems, rather than some "colloquial" term for them.

Ideologically, I don't think sticking to irrational traditions just because people are generally comfortable with them is a good way to run your life, and I don't think the PC community should give up that term to Microsoft. It didn't always mean Windows in the past, so there's no reason to think it must continue to in the future. Language changes, and people deal with it. I'm all for the change, and I don't see much of an argument against it. Do you guys think people will be confused, or something, if Windows is described as Windows?

Originally posted by ­Τhe Rolling Ham Cheese:

Windows Gaming sounds stupid. PC gaming rolls off the tongue better. It's so far ingrained in to the minds of the general populace that changing it now would not be a wise decision. It would just cause mass confusion.

Oh, you actually do think it would cause confusion. Wow. I don't really know what to say there. How on earth is Windows being called Windows confusing?

Also, "Windows Gaming sounds stupid" is not really an argument, but if it's a problem for you, it's really something you should take up with Microsoft; they named their OS, not Valve. Personally I don't see how it's any more stupid than "Wii Gaming" or "Xbox Gaming" or "Linux Gaming". It's unfamiliar to you, okay. You'd get used to it in no time; it's hardly the first time Steam has changed something over the years. When you taste a new food, do you say "this tastes stupid!"?

[Satoru]

Originally posted by Gus the Crocodile:

As I see it, it being "colloquially correct" doesn't matter.

But the entire thread is based on pedantry. The complaint is not that Windows Gaming is a good alternative. Maybe it's more correct or whatever, but that's not what the OP is talking about.

It's that the term "PC gaming" is the WRONG term.

In that context, the colloquial usage of "PC" as it refers to windows is correct usage. Pedantic nit picking about broader contexts is not relevant with the usage of "PC Gaming" referring primarily to Windows. I still have "PC GAMER" a PRINT magazine that specialized in Windows gaming since it's inception.

Whether the OP likes it or not "PC Gaming" has meant and does mean Windows.