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So valve revealed their Steam OS a few hours ago.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/23/valve-reveals-linux-based-steamos

In my eyes it's pretty terrible. From what I read, it's just a reskinned Linux. Plus that means most of the current game library Steam has now won't work on it. And I don't think Developers will throw over their games to redo them to run on Linux.

 The Grumpy Eldar wrote:
Plus that means most of the current game library Steam has now won't work on it. And I don't think Developers will throw over their games to redo them to run on Linux.

From your own link!:

"According to Valve, "hundreds of great games are already running natively on SteamOS"

So they've obviously thought of this and already checked, if not put work into getting games working on it. That would have been an oversight of such stupidity that I would have issue believing Valve of all people would have overlooked it. Other companies, though...

Overall I'm intrigued, but not swayed. Apart from compatibility issues, I'm wondering exactly what would make the Steam offering different from other consoles available now/soon. Having the Steam name attached isn't an automatic guarantee that it will work as well as the current Steam platform does.

 Super Ready wrote:


From your own link!:

"According to Valve, "hundreds of great games are already running natively on SteamOS"

So they've obviously thought of this and already checked, if not put work into getting games working on it. That would have been an oversight of such stupidity that I would have issue believing Valve of all people would have overlooked it. Other companies, though...

Overall I'm intrigued, but not swayed. Apart from compatibility issues, I'm wondering exactly what would make the Steam offering different from other consoles available now/soon. Having the Steam name attached isn't an automatic guarantee that it will work as well as the current Steam platform does.

A few hundred is just a few of over 3000 they have actually. Most games they already have running already have Linux support or are smaller more simple Indie games.

It'll most likely end up just as the Ouya, barely used.

Hmmm...
Might dig out my old desktop box for living room use...
Might need to replace a few bits and pieces though...
Assuming this will be any good.

The system is Linux based. It's also not a replacement for Windows or OSX. It's intended to operate as an interface between a computer and a TV, optimizing the computers resources so that it can run smoother. This is seemingly part of their plans for the SteamBox. From what information has been released, it seems like it'll be the 'turns your PC into a games console' interface. It won't however be able to operate a machine on its own. Think of it more as a highly specialized emulator.

Calling it an OS is... ambitious. It's confusing though cause now people are getting the wrong idea. The information released thus far doesn't hint at what most people think of as an operating system. It's a single purpose platform designed to make a PC do one thing.

My guess is that one of the other announcements we can expect soon will be a PC to TV device that will use the Steam OS to connect the two. Perhaps the Steam Box we've all be wondering about will be this simple or it might be more grand.