14 DAY TRIAL // A list of the ten things wrong with Games for Windows is up on The Hushed Casket. They're pretty much correct about everything, although #8 is good news for Xboxers, but basically, it proves how Microsoft shows off different results with the same thing practically.
No. 9 - "It doesn't work from your desktop" - the site says "Games for Windows - Live does not run as an application on your desktop. You must run it from inside a game - a GFW - Live enabled game. Shadowrun and HALO 2 are the only ways you can connect to GFW - Live. Vista has been marketed a gaming platform by Microsoft."
Number 9 is strongly connected to number 10 - "Quiet launch" (because of Halo 2 being delayed - nudity, and of course Shadowrun, the other title that would make Live tick for you).
The 8th wrong thing however, "XBOX Live users have it so much better," doesn't sound so bad. Yeah it's so much better to be able to use webcams, voice messages, text messages and Windows Messenger without requiring your Xbox 360 to run a game in order to do that, but the fact that you can do it while running a game sounds pretty good to me.
No 7 says that it's missing the little things, while the feel of the service's official sites is not what you'd expect, lacking that "it" as the site points out. However, the fact that gamers won't be able to connect to Windows Messenger (no. 4) suggests that Microsoft just doesn't learn from its mistakes, having developed a similar service to one that didn't work the way it was expected to either.
Having "limited buddy list capacity" is always a drag, so let's just not go there, as I'm sure you're already disappointed.
Of course, Vista is the only one supporting GFW for now (what, are you surprised?). However, the site also reports that you can't use the "Game Advisor" (main link promoted on practically every webpage on the Games for Windows website), the error message telling you that "Windows XP Game Advisor requires the use of the Windows 98/ME/2000/XP operating system and the Internet Explorer 6 browser."
So then, what exactly do they want us to do...?
And naturally, since Microsoft likes things their way or the high way, "Limited or no third party developers are using GFW - Live." Basically, all you'll need Live for is acquire achievements, which, if you aren't a total nerd, you may just find that it's not worth the 50 bucks. But hey, if you like everything else about the service (not that it hasn't been done before), by all means, be everyone's guest!