Valve founder Gabe Newell stirred up a hornet"s nest of discussion a few weeks ago when he stated his opinion that Windows 8 would be "a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space." Since then, his opinion on Microsoft"s next OS hasn"t changed, but he does admit that he hopes he"s wrong.
In a preview of the next episode of Spike TV"s GTTV television show (to be shown in the US early on Friday morning), Newell is asked what people might think when they start using Windows 8. He answers, "I think that they are going to find that they hate it. I think that they will basically rage quit computing after they use it." He added, "Things that used to be incredibly simple are now very complicated and hard."
Newell does hold out hope that his views could be off base. He says, "I hope I"m wrong. If I am wrong we will actually end up making more money in the 12 months that follow Windows 8 shipping than if I am right. I am just worried that I am right."
Valve is already trying to port its PC game download service, as well as games themselves, to Linux. The company also revealed it will start offering non-gaming PC software on Steam on September 5th, in what seems like a direct response to Microsoft and the Windows Store feature in Windows 8.
Source: GTTV.com video