When it comes to developing... Windows or Linux?

[pato wlmc]

Well, right now i'm using linux, but i've heard that windows is really best for programing videogames ( on c++ ) well, wich O.S. do you think is the best?

P.D. Sorry for the bad english jeje :$

[SgtMe]

Windows, because it used by more people, with better support.

[mack00234]

Why not experiment with both?
@ SgtMe: It doesn't matter if many people use on OS, the game should still be made multiplatform.

[SgtMe]

The question asked me, "Which OS do you think is best?" So I stated the ONE that I thought was best. Yes, it could be made muti-platform, but that was not the question -_-

[0x69]

Well, right now i'm using linux, but i've heard that windows is really best for programing videogames ( on c++ ) well, wich O.S. do you think is the best?

P.D. Sorry for the bad english jeje :$

When it comes to game development definitely answer is Windows. Simply because nothing beats it at tools available for game & graphics development. For example,- take a look at existing programs for Pixel Shader development & testing under Linux/Mac/Windows:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLSL#IDE
From these nothing beats feature-rich and bug-free program "Render Monkey" which currently is only for Windows.
This is just one example, but in principle same should hold for many other development tools for graphics-driven applications.
If you want second example take a look at NVIDIA solution which lets developing programs for GPU (through OpenCL,CUDA,...) DIRECTLY in Visual Studio ->
http://developer.nvidia.com/object/nsight.html
So we can say that now Windows has IDE for GPU development. Do Linux has GOOD alternatives to this ?

[pato wlmc]

When it comes to game development definitely answer is Windows. Simply because nothing beats it at tools available for game & graphics development. For example,- take a look at existing programs for Pixel Shader development & testing under Linux/Mac/Windows:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GLSL#IDE
From these nothing beats feature-rich and bug-free program "Render Monkey" which currently is only for Windows.
This is just one example, but in principle same should hold for many other development tools for graphics-driven applications.
If you want second example take a look at NVIDIA solution which lets developing programs for GPU (through OpenCL,CUDA,...) DIRECTLY in Visual Studio ->
http://developer.nvidia.com/object/nsight.html
So we can say that now Windows has IDE for GPU development. Do Linux has GOOD alternatives to this ?

Yeah, it's certainly true.
Thanks for the answer

[Skyelher]

Then, why is it that I've read a lot of articles telling me that if I want to become a better developer, I should do it on Linux?

[0x69]

-If you want to become better generalist developer - linux is a must because of plenty development languages/environments choises.
-If you want to become better game developer - windows is a must because of tools avialable for GPU development. (Unless you want develop for some console/device, in such case Win may not have big bonus)

[Excizted]

I started out a larger game development project being on Windows.
Due to licensing and budget issues related to this commercial project, I decided to give Linux a try.

I have never regret trying it out, development and productivity is for my sake up to four times faster on Linux.

Currently I am back on Windows after 4 months of uninterrupted development on Linux. I only (temporarily) returned for one reasons:
I have to do some gameplay testing of the game on Windows. Haven't been done yet, and although it has been developed under Linux it just runs smoothly.

But I am crying over how Windows works and restricts you in so many ways. I liked Windows and fought that Vista was a great OS for productivity, but simply Linux is better, and even with Windows 7 coming out Linux pulled more.

In my opinion, you should be open minded and use BOTH. The future is cross platform games. With Linux support you just need a few tweaks and you have Mac aswell.
- After a month of using both for your game project, you will know which is best for you, but don't let the difference from Windows, in Linux scare you from the start.

[pato wlmc]

How, thanks excizted, i thi9nk your answer is the most complete an only one based on evidence.

Thanks for your answer, but any others are welcome,

[Excizted]

You're welcome :)

Any other questions, just ask;
Only I've never used Mac as my primary OS, but Linux and Windows has both been my daily bootup ;)

Hope you will get settled with your own preferred OS :D

[mike_2000_17]

Which is better for development?

IDEs:
I have to say windows just because either Borland or Microsoft IDEs are really full-featured, but also expensive. If money is an issue, then Linux has great tools too, KDevelop is now a pretty descent rival to Visual Studio or RAD Studio.

General Programming support and tools:
Linux is the winner by far! All the packages, tools, free libraries, open-source community, etc. To me, doing "serious" programming on windows doesn't make much sense and is really time-consuming and frustrating. (by "serious" I mean not game programming ..please don't take this as offensive or anything)

Third-Party Tools for game development:
Windows wins by far, as pointed out by a few earlier posts. For 3D artists and shader programmers it beats Linux for sure.

Conclusion: I would develop the game cross-platform, spending most of the time programming it in Linux with KDevelop or other, then switching to windows for testing shaders or making models (although Blender in Linux is pretty good too!).

[BlackPhoenix]

Very helpful post, thanks Excizted. Do you use Fedora, Ubuntu, or some other distro?

[Excizted]

Very helpful post, thanks Excizted. Do you use Fedora, Ubuntu, or some other distro?

I use Ubuntu mostly with NetBeans IDE 6.9 (6.8 is in Software Center, but 6.9 is much faster - do the manual install!!)

It is perfect for anything from big commercial projects to quick small scripts for myself.