Minecraft is the exception that proves the rule - Microsoft likely did try to pull off the plug of OS X and Linux support, in a user-hostile move, but it failed due to its popularity.
Minecraft has two main versions:
the Java version. Desktop-wise available for Linux, OS X, and Windows. Predates Microsoft buying Mojang (Minecraft’s developer studio). That’s likely the version played by the people whom you’re referring to.
the Bedrock version. Coded in C++, and desktop-wise available only for Windows. Created after the acquisition of the studio.
Odds are that, when Microsoft funded the Bedrock version, it assumed that every Windows player would adopt it instead of the Java version, because it does perform far better. But there’s a catch - Bedrock cannot be modded (modified by the user with third party code), only the Java version can, and the modding scene for Minecraft is huge. So if Microsoft pulled off the plug of the Java version, a lot of people would leave, in special adult and teen players; and once they’re gone people aren’t introducing the game to young children any more.
Now, on why Java Minecraft runs better in Linux: I have no idea. It might be the mods themselves running better in Linux, as a lot of modders are Linux users.
Bedrock can be modded and has a lot of tools to do so(as far as i know, i dont play it)
Kind of.
Yes, you could call Bedrock add-ons “mods”. But regardless of name they’re clearly a different can of worms, more limited in capability - to the point that most are simply fluff, not changing the game in meaningful ways. Contrast that with the huge survival, industrial, exploration etc. modpacks that exist for Java, that basically use MC as an engine instead of a game. (Or even individual mods. Terrafirmacraft I’m looking at you.)
To give you an idea, CurseForge lists ten times as many Java mods than Bedrock addons, with half of them being stuff like TPs, skins, maps. So if you really want to see Bedrock addons as “mods”, my point changes from “Bedrock has no mods” to “Bedrock has mods, but they don’t matter in the big picture since people playing and modding Minecraft are mostly doing it with Java Edition”. The conclusion is still the same.
On linux, it is much faster for both vanilla and modded minecraft [Java]
@[email protected] mentioned that it has less CPU overhead and better OpenGL drivers. I never noticed a big difference for vanilla because it’s typically mods that make your computer shit bricks.
Minecraft bedrock edition can be played on linux using third party launchers
The problem of something relying on a 3rd party dev like this is that MS can easily pull off the plug if it so desires, in ways that wouldn’t look like arseholery but “protecting its own IP”: copyright trolling, abusive terms and conditions, etc.
Currently it has no reasons to do so, as it would counter its best interests. But it’s clear that, if Microsoft got its way with Bedrock, and players migrated in mass to Bedrock (to the point that the Java version was deprecated), MS would have all the reasons to pull off the plug.
Minecraft is the exception that proves the rule - Microsoft likely did try to pull off the plug of OS X and Linux support, in a user-hostile move, but it failed due to its popularity.
Minecraft has two main versions:
Odds are that, when Microsoft funded the Bedrock version, it assumed that every Windows player would adopt it instead of the Java version, because it does perform far better. But there’s a catch - Bedrock cannot be modded (modified by the user with third party code), only the Java version can, and the modding scene for Minecraft is huge. So if Microsoft pulled off the plug of the Java version, a lot of people would leave, in special adult and teen players; and once they’re gone people aren’t introducing the game to young children any more.
Now, on why Java Minecraft runs better in Linux: I have no idea. It might be the mods themselves running better in Linux, as a lot of modders are Linux users.
The reason it runs better is
Bedrock can be modded and has a lot of tools to do so(as far as i know, i dont play it)
On linux, it is much faster for both vanilla and modded minecraft
Minecraft bedrock edition can be played on linux using third party launchers
Kind of.
Yes, you could call Bedrock add-ons “mods”. But regardless of name they’re clearly a different can of worms, more limited in capability - to the point that most are simply fluff, not changing the game in meaningful ways. Contrast that with the huge survival, industrial, exploration etc. modpacks that exist for Java, that basically use MC as an engine instead of a game. (Or even individual mods. Terrafirmacraft I’m looking at you.)
To give you an idea, CurseForge lists ten times as many Java mods than Bedrock addons, with half of them being stuff like TPs, skins, maps. So if you really want to see Bedrock addons as “mods”, my point changes from “Bedrock has no mods” to “Bedrock has mods, but they don’t matter in the big picture since people playing and modding Minecraft are mostly doing it with Java Edition”. The conclusion is still the same.
@[email protected] mentioned that it has less CPU overhead and better OpenGL drivers. I never noticed a big difference for vanilla because it’s typically mods that make your computer shit bricks.
The problem of something relying on a 3rd party dev like this is that MS can easily pull off the plug if it so desires, in ways that wouldn’t look like arseholery but “protecting its own IP”: copyright trolling, abusive terms and conditions, etc.
Currently it has no reasons to do so, as it would counter its best interests. But it’s clear that, if Microsoft got its way with Bedrock, and players migrated in mass to Bedrock (to the point that the Java version was deprecated), MS would have all the reasons to pull off the plug.