NVIDIA Extends Olive Branch to Linux Gamers with Performance Doubling Driver Update
It was just a few short months ago when Linus Torvalds ripped into NVIDIA for its perceived sub-par support of the Linux operating system. During a talk at Finland's Aalto Center for Entrepreneurship, Torvalds referred to NVIDIA as "the single worst company we've ever dealt with" before flipping NVIDIA the bird on camera. Despite the outburst, NVIDIA hasn't forgotten about the Linux community. Just the opposite.
The GPU maker this week announced new GeForce R310 drivers that supposedly "double the performance and dramatically reduce game loading times for those gaming on the Linux operating system." If true, that's one heck of an olive branch.
"With this release, NVIDIA has managed to increase the overall gaming performance under Linux," said Doug Lombardi, vice president of marketing at Valve. "NVIDIA took an unquestioned leadership position developing R310 drivers with us and other studios to provide an absolutely unequaled solution for Linux gamers."
Linux has garnered increased attention from the gaming community as of late, primarily because Valve has been busy porting its Steam distribution platform over to Ubuntu. Microsoft's walled garden approach to Windows 8 has some game developers concerned about the future of gaming on Windows in general, which in turn has opened the door for Linux to break into the mainstream.
The GPU maker this week announced new GeForce R310 drivers that supposedly "double the performance and dramatically reduce game loading times for those gaming on the Linux operating system." If true, that's one heck of an olive branch.
"With this release, NVIDIA has managed to increase the overall gaming performance under Linux," said Doug Lombardi, vice president of marketing at Valve. "NVIDIA took an unquestioned leadership position developing R310 drivers with us and other studios to provide an absolutely unequaled solution for Linux gamers."
Linux has garnered increased attention from the gaming community as of late, primarily because Valve has been busy porting its Steam distribution platform over to Ubuntu. Microsoft's walled garden approach to Windows 8 has some game developers concerned about the future of gaming on Windows in general, which in turn has opened the door for Linux to break into the mainstream.
