Steam: alternative installation locations now available


Recommended Posts

Steam on C, Counter Strike on C, Skyrim on C, Farcry 3 on D.

That's what's new.

I know what's new ;) I was never discussing that nor saying it isn't a good advancement. I was in a reply chain as to why it took so long.

Modern file systems are perfectly capable of handling such data loads. If I want to play any game then I just launch it from Steam and it's up and running - no downloading, no delay.

Yes, however the Master File Table and related bits grow to accommodate the workload and become slower to get what they need. Steam also has to check for updates on that many more titles, and your games and file system data are far less likely to be defragged so I question the 'no delay' part.

As to why what you said fits the definition of 'hoarding' well I'll let you figure that one out. But alas, I'm not actually trying to insult you so do what you will. :) Just weirds me out that people actually do that....much like my friend who rips every DVD he's ever owned even though he'll never actually use 99% of them.

Yes, however the Master File Table and related bits grow to accommodate the workload and become slower to get what they need. Steam also has to check for updates on that many more titles, and your games and file system data are far less likely to be defragged so I question the 'no delay' part.

As to why what you said fits the definition of 'hoarding' well I'll let you figure that one out. But alas, I'm not actually trying to insult you so do what you will. :) Just weirds me out that people actually do that....much like my friend who rips every DVD he's ever owned even though he'll never actually use 99% of them.

Fair enough, but to me the convenience outweighs other concerns and I've never noticed performance issues. Steam handles the number of games installed pretty well - though it's certainly not perfect - and I'll often see 5-10 updates downloading at the same time, which is fine as I have a 40Mbps connection. To put that in perspective, if I wanted to download a game like Max Payne 3 - which is 30GB - I'd have to wait between 1?.5 - 2hrs with my connection. To me that simply isn't convenient.

Would be cool if Microsoft just changed all of their system storage to library-based systems, so you could have an Applications library that aggregated folders from across your hds.

Well, when using WinRT apps, you've kinda got that already.

Sadly, not many WinRT apps yet.

Would be cool if Microsoft just changed all of their system storage to library-based systems, so you could have an Applications library that aggregated folders from across your hds.

Indeed. The trouble is that a lot of advanced users are more comfortable knowing the physical locations of their data, while casual users aren't informed enough to properly utilise such a system. It's one of the reasons the Library functionality introduced in Windows 7 hasn't really taken off. I consider Storage Spaces to be the better technology and that should be enabled by default, as that would protect against the failure of any single drive and it allows multiple hard-drives to appear as a single drive in Explorer.

Well, when using WinRT apps, you've kinda got that already.

Sadly, not many WinRT apps yet.

The trouble with WinRT apps is that the are hugely limited in terms of functionality and there is also a requirement to distribute them through the Windows Store, which means giving 30% of revenue to Microsoft. That's not an issue for mobile-style app markets but it's bad for the traditional PC software market, which is used to being open and flexible. For WinRT apps to take off Microsoft is going to have to expand the APIs considerably - including a 'full power' mode for desktop systems so that unlimited numbers of apps can run in the background - and allow for software to be distributed through third-party app stores (? la Android).

The trouble with WinRT apps is that the are hugely limited in terms of functionality

How are they limited in functionality? They're no more limited in functionality than Win32 apps are.

The current crop may not be all that impressive but that has nothing to do with WinRTs capabilities.

How are they limited in functionality? They're no more limited in functionality than Win32 apps are.

They are limited in how they can run in the background, in how they can access the filesystem, in how they share data with other applications, in screen dimensions, etc. The platform offers some advantages but Win32 apps are more powerful and less restricted.

They are limited in how they can run in the background, in how they can access the filesystem, in how they share data with other applications, in screen dimensions, etc. The platform offers some advantages but Win32 apps are more powerful and less restricted.

They are certainly restricted, but none of that makes them any less powerful, especially considering the enhanced programming languages available in WinRT. Your average win32 app in use today doesn't even use the capabilities Windows has had available for years.

How are they limited in functionality? They're no more limited in functionality than Win32 apps are.
They are certainly restricted, but none of that makes them any less powerful

Does. Not. Compute.

But seriously, there are lot of restrictions and limitations surrounding WinRT apps as they currently stand. For starters, the inability to run in a window is pretty significant as it means applications can't be spanned across multiple displays; it's also not possible to run more than two WinRT apps simultaneously and then one would have to be side-snapped, which is limited to 320px in width. The WinRT ecosystem will continue to expand and evolve but it is not a replacement to Win32 as it stands because of the aforementioned limitations.

Does. Not. Compute.

But seriously, there are lot of restrictions and limitations surrounding WinRT apps as they currently stand. For starters, the inability to run in a window is pretty significant as it means applications can't be spanned across multiple displays; it's also not possible to run more than two WinRT apps simultaneously and then one would have to be side-snapped, which is limited to 320px in width. The WinRT ecosystem will continue to expand and evolve but it is not a replacement to Win32 as it stands because of the aforementioned limitations.

If you really want to get into semantics...

WinRT apps still require Win32 code as I understand it, so no, it certainly isn't a full replacement yet and I wouldn't recommend everyone switch to it (especially before MS adds an installer for them outside of the Store) but otherwise we're just arguing because we disagree on some minor details heh.

So I'm done now, at any rate.

Back to Steam, it seems weird it took them this long to allow this. About damn time, at any rate.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • And the fact that the majority of people from Poland are white European Christians while the people you are complaining about in post after post are not is just a coincidence... Every sentence in your post I am replying to is racist nonsense. None of it is actually based on any facts whatsoever. They are seeking a better life too. They are working and contributing to the economy too, as you even admit. They get the same benefits your partner did AND that YOU are eligible for as well. That is the definition of a society where everyone is given a chance, treated equally and fairly, and is judged by the content of their character, not their different skin color or which version of ignorant superstitious nonsense their parents lied about as children. Racists said the same things about the Irish and Jews and Poles (like your partner) and...every other immigrant movement over the centuries. What's your family's heritage, by the way? Were your ancestors lied about with racist fearmongering crapola by self-entitled locals the same way as you are now? If someone like that said the same things about all people from Poland, like your partner, would they be right? Or would you want them to judge your partner based on who they actually were, not where they just happened to come from?
    • Again, this is an irrelevant attempt to attack the messenger. The truth does not require any justification.
    • Removed the blue and underline as you did not post a link. This would also  be considered spamming.
    • Why it's almost impossible to produce a smartphone in the United States by Hamid Ganji If you look at the back of some Apple products, you can see the famous phrase “Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in China.” This phrase appears on products from one of the largest smartphone brands in the United States. These products are designed in the U.S., but their manufacturing takes place in China, India, Vietnam, or even Brazil. But why can’t Apple, as one of the largest American tech companies, produce its iPhones on U.S. soil? The idea for this topic came to me after the Trump Foundation launched a smartphone called the T1 and claimed that it was designed and built with American values in mind. However, this claim did not last long, as it was revealed that Trump’s phone was actually a rebranded HTC U24 Pro, with only a gold case and minor internal component changes. You see? Even a phone that is supposed to represent American values is manufactured in China. With a gross domestic product (GDP) exceeding $32 trillion, the United States is currently the world’s largest economy, while China ranks second with around $20 trillion. On the other hand, the United States is by a wide margin the global leader in various technological fields, and American companies spend hundreds of billions of dollars annually on research and development. From Apple and Google to Microsoft, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and others, American tech and industrial giants lead their foreign competitors in many sectors. The United States also has no shortage of smartphone brands. Apple, Google, and Motorola are among the major brands in the smartphone market, collectively holding a significant share. However, the vast majority of their products are manufactured outside the United States. So why is it that the world’s largest economy, home to the most advanced technology companies and industrial powers, cannot produce a smartphone on its own soil? Let’s explore this question together. Even threats to impose tariffs won’t work After Trump entered the White House as the 47th President of the United States, his administration adopted strict tariff policies. One of these policies was the imposition of a 25% tariff on smartphones manufactured outside the United States. Trump said he “had a little problem” with Apple CEO Tim Cook over producing smartphones outside the U.S. So he thought that threatening a 25% tax on imported phones might force Apple to bring manufacturing back to the United States. “I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhones that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Image via The White House Although Apple currently manufactures some of the iPhone’s chips in the United States with TSMC's help, it still shows no willingness to shift full iPhone production to the country. At the time, renowned Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote on X, “In terms of profitability, it’s way better for Apple to take the hit of a 25% tariff on iPhones sold in the US market than to move iPhone assembly lines back to the US.” However, manufacturing a smartphone in the United States is not as easy as it might seem, and many technical and economic barriers are involved. The lack of necessary manufacturing hubs There is a clear reason why many companies prefer to manufacture their products in China. China has established itself as the main global manufacturing hub for international companies, and over the past few decades, large contract manufacturers have emerged there, allowing companies like Apple to outsource production. One such example is Foxconn, which also manufactures some Apple products in India. Building the infrastructure required to produce smartphones in the United States would require tens of billions of dollars in new investment. Factories would need to be built, essential manufacturing equipment would have to be installed, and, most importantly, a skilled workforce capable of operating these systems would need to be recruited and trained. The United States currently lacks the core infrastructure needed to manufacture smartphones, and for this reason, many companies prefer to outsource production to Chinese contractors rather than spend tens of billions of dollars to build that infrastructure, which is significantly more economically efficient. Additionally, building such infrastructure in the United States could take up to a decade, ultimately leading to a significant increase in the product's final price for consumers. Shortage of trained labor in the U.S. compared to China Decades of serving as a global manufacturing hub have allowed China to build a massive talent pool in the production sector that is almost unmatched worldwide. Today, if a company chooses to manufacture its products in China, it can be confident that the workers involved in production have years of experience in their respective roles and are capable of producing high-quality goods with minimal errors. Even if we assume that tens of billions of dollars were invested in building smartphone manufacturing infrastructure in the United States, finding skilled workers would remain highly challenging. Apple CEO Tim Cook visiting the iPhone 6 assembly line in China in 2014. Image: Tim Cook on X In a 2015 interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes, Tim Cook said the main reason Apple isn’t producing in the US is a lack of skills. "China put an enormous focus on manufacturing, in what you and I would call vocational kind of skills. The US over time began to stop having as many vocational kinds of skills. I mean you could take every tool and die maker in the United States and probably put them in the room that we're currently sitting in. In China you would have to have multiple football fields,” Cook said. Also, in 2017, at the Fortune Global Forum in Guangzhou, Cook once again emphasized the importance of highly skilled Chinese workers. “China has moved into very advanced manufacturing, so you find in China the intersection of craftsman kind of skill, and sophisticated robotics and the computer science world. That intersection, which is very rare to find anywhere, that kind of skill, is very important to our business because of the precision and quality level that we like. The thing that most people focus on if they’re a foreigner coming to China is the size of the market, and obviously, it’s the biggest market in the world in so many areas. But for us, the number one attraction is the quality of the people,” Apple CEO said. Higher labor costs in the United States Producing almost any product in the United States is more expensive than in many other countries, and one of the main reasons is the higher cost of labor in the U.S. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, median weekly earnings of full-time workers in the United States were $1,235 in the first quarter of 2026. Meanwhile, the average annual salary in China's private sector in 2025 was RMB 71,590 (US$9,961). In many parts of the world, the weekly wage of an American worker is equivalent to several months of income. Another important factor to consider is that in the United States, the workforce capable of working on a smartphone assembly line is highly specialized and therefore commands higher-than-average wages. According to an estimate by Bank of America, producing an iPhone in the U.S. is technically possible, but “iPhone cost can increase 25% purely on higher labor cost in the U.S.” However, this 25% increase applies only if final assembly is performed in the United States while components are still sourced from China or elsewhere. In this case, the price of a base iPhone would rise from $799 to around $1,000. But in another scenario, if Apple were to produce the required components for the iPhone within the United States, production costs could increase by more than 90%. Trump’s dream for a “Made in the USA” iPhone might never come true In a free-market capitalist economy, one of the primary responsibilities of any CEO is to maximize profit. Using Apple as an example, Tim Cook’s role is to maximize the company’s profits so that it can fund research and development for new products and invest in areas such as artificial intelligence, while also keeping shareholders satisfied. Therefore, it is entirely understandable that Apple would choose not to bring its manufacturing back to the United States and instead keep production in countries where labor is cheaper, and products can be manufactured at a lower cost, thereby maximizing its profit margins. What is your opinion about manufacturing smartphones in the United States? If you are an American citizen, would you be willing to pay hundreds of dollars more for a smartphone made domestically in the USA? Let us know in the comments.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Conversation Starter
      jessse3334 earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • Reacting Well
      JuvenileDelinquent earned a badge
      Reacting Well
    • One Month Later
      Excellence2025 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      Excellence2025 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Week One Done
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      506
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      196
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      153
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      72
    5. 5
      FloatingFatMan
      65
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!