The biggest benefit as I see it, is that the users won't have the hassle of setting something up: just install the OS and login. No drivers ppa, no recovery console, no xorg.conf patches. If this is true, Valve will do something very big for the gaming community.
SteamOS
11–20 of 532 posts
Re: SteamOS
#12If only it were open source... This is great nonetheless, though. It'll be interesting to see what directions this takes off in, both in terms of hardware and software.
Re: SteamOS
#13"In SteamOS, we have achieved significant performance increases in graphics processing, and we’re now targeting audio performance and reductions in input latency at the operating system level."
I'm really interested to see the trickle down effect that this will have on other Linux flavors. Having a push for standardization from a big name company like Valve should provide a better Linux experience for everyone.
Re: SteamOS
#14The end is near! windows should shake in its tiny boots
Re: SteamOS
#15The idea itself is not novel as such. Just like every other company the difficulty is having to disassociate yourself from Windows. As it stands the store relies heavily on Windows titles. The real feat would be if they managed to get the whole catalog across to SteamOS by under the hood cross compatibility layer.
Re: SteamOS
#16wOOOOOOOOOO!!!
If that works on normal machines (like, my laptop), I will kick Windows for good finally!
Re: SteamOS
#17So the Streaming functionality will be in both SteamOS and the normal Steam client? For both PC and Mac? There might be a few interesting ways to utilize that. :)
I really hope that this will be seamless. I would love to keep a beefy windows PC in the basement as a headless machine to run windows only games from and stream them to TV or Macs from there.
Re: SteamOS
#18I'm somewhat disappointed. While perfectly logical for Valve, it might end up being not very beneficial for other distributions. In worst case scenario, hardware manufacturers cherry pick specific devices ("steambox") and software ecosystem to support (SteamOS) while totally neglecting all other linux distributions.
Re: SteamOS
#19Is it based on an existing distro?
It's either OpenSUSE or Ubuntu based.
Re: SteamOS
#20The rumors of a Steam Box based on Linux have been circulating for a while now, but earlier Valve came out to say they had no plans to enter the hardware business.
I love this solution. Those of us comfortable with building our own Steam Box can do so easily, and manufacturers can also build their own models. In every case, the Steam store will certainly be sewn into the very fabric of the box, and Valve emerges a big winner.
This is what I've been waiting for to build an HTPC/PC gaming battlestation... I've (personally) always preferred gaming with a controller while sitting on a couch.