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[Syphon Filter]

I think the idea with SteamOS is just to transform your PC into a console. It's a very forward thinking move. With integrated GPUs getting much better you can already buy a cheap prebuilt that runs most games, not at max settings granted but will run them. I think by the time PS5 comes out, Sony might even do a similar thing -- PS4 is already using mostly off the shelf parts. Valve was ahead of the pack with Steam, wouldn't be surprised if they are with this too.

What's the point in that. If someone is doing that wouldn't they be better off getting a console if that is what they want?

 

[The Cowboy]

The L4D crew did have a blog were they mentioned big performance increases over windows when they were developing the Steam client for linux. They used L4D as a test, I'd guess that this is where this OS idea came from.

It's good news for me.

True they did, but showing you can get 330 vs 300 isn't exactly a big deal frankly - I want them to show things like getting 60 vs 45 or 45 vs 30 in the more performance demanding games. Showing that LFD2 can get 330fps vs 300fps to me isn't that impressive, however if they showed me say Metro LL getting 60fps vs 45fps I'd be very impressed.

 

[Grief.exe]

Am I giving people heart attacks the right way?

http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/HalfLife3/

http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/xboxone

 

[jediyoshi]

Yea, big picture seems like a waste then.

The UI for BPM will likely just be carried whole hog over for steamos. Getting it out, working alongside regular steam ui makes sense as far as getting a sense of how usable it is before then. Everything they've been doing since releasing bpm has slowly been in the direction of this.

 

[Khaz]

Of course probably one can probably go "behind the scenes" and launch whatever he wants or tweak it however be wants and use it as a desktop OS but that's not the reason behind its creation.

Based on Gaben philosophy exposed last week at Linuxcon, I do hope we can tweak it however we like. This includes installing competitor stores like Desura and... are there any other Linux gaming DD stores?

As long as I can get a terminal or SSH in it i'll be happy.

 

[soulassssns]

So many assumptions in here. I have a wait and see attitude with this SteamOS until we actually see something.

 

[erpg]

Really this means better Linux drivers all around. I'll never be able to leave Office, Visual Studio and a bunch more Microsoft products, but I'm ready to dual boot.

 

[Crisco]

This looks pretty sweet. If nothing else I'll throw together a cheapo SteamOS box for streaming to my TV.

Hell, if there is a non-trivial performance difference, say at least 10-15%, the entire enthusiast PC gaming crowd will shift to this literally overnight. Could be a massive blow to Microsoft's desktop PC dominance.

 

[Azulsky]

This...I don't know. I'm not feeling that excited by this. It just seems essentially like Linux with Steam and Big Picture installed.

What if there to be excited about? Why should somebody go from a Windows 7 PC or their current Linux PC with Steam already installed to this? Help me understand.

I get that they can use this for Steambox. I understand that. But outside of that.

They are creating easymode for console peasants to acquire PC without having to deal with traditional operating system

/sarcasm

The benefit is that some games you can play in front of your monitor with your Mouse + KB while others you could wander to yonder living room and play there. That is what I am getting at least. I have a really nice gaming rig and its staying next to its really nice monitor. But I could totally dig streaming stuff like Indie games and platformers(Rayman) to my TV.

My asinine remark above has some merit too, many people simply do not want to deal with the trouble of putting together a gaming PC and would rather get a console to save the hassle. I have at least 4 friends who would probably default to console if I wasn't pushing them to PC.

 

[MercuryLS]

This is brilliant. I really want a steambox, if that doesn't come any time soon I will build my own HTPC.

 

[Wolfgunblood Garopa]

Another way of looking at the 30% is that you can buy cheaper hardware if you use the SteamOS than if you use windows and get identical performance.

I'm not sure there will be a direct correlation between price and performance like that, but hypothetically, if I could save $100 on a GPU and $100 for Windows... that is getting close to being worth it. I'm not sure a substantial increase like that is realistic, and as it's been pointed out, Windows will compete.

 

[IchigoSharingan]

I barely use Steam, so it's basically an OS within an OS on a PC? right?

No Steambox?

all pc's in the world can potentially become a steambox

 

[Maxxan]

I'm sure this is a derpy question, but is the reason why manufacturers of Smart TVs and set-top boxes don't support Windows that they would have to pay MS is they did?

 

[Guy.brush]

I wonder how this endeavor will stretch VALVe's resources?
Doing Steam for Windows, the storefront, their games, Source 2.0, controller hardware and now SteamOS?

300-400 employees, probably only 150 of whom would be considered true engineers.
vs. Microsoft with I dunno 10.000 engineers?
If Microsoft wakes up, sees the writing on the wall, they could easily "repair" what's broken in W8 in W9. They could include a gamer mode that shuts down unneeded processes. But I don't believe there is much to be gained in performance. When Windows idles there is probably 1% of the CPU utilized.
(I think the new consoles with their fancy MediaCenter UIs utilize way more of the GPU and CPU than Windows, up to 10%).

W7/W8 are not resource heavy at all, maybe on RAM but that is so ubiquitous with 16GB being the standard in a few years.
Drivers are mature and always up-to-date on Windows. Not sure how willing Nvidia and AMD are to invest more into Linux drivers.

Will definitely be interesting to see those claims of better performance on SteamOS.

 

[Acti]

Most interesting announcement for me is that Steam is going to have music and movies. I'm wondering if we're going to see sales for thoses though.
Probably won't happen.

Shit, I didn't think of that at all! It would be awesome if they implemented something like that.

 

[ComputerMKII]

I wonder how this endeavor will stretch VALVe's resources?
Doing Steam for Windows, the storefront, their games, Source 2.0, controller hardware and now SteamOS?

300-400 employees, probably only 150 of whom would be considered true engineers.
vs. Microsoft with I dunno 10.000 engineers?

9,999 of which are busy with Kinect.

 

[Technosteve]

so did they state what distro they are using and if they are creating libraries for game development?

 

[JohnsonUT]

I'm not sure there will be a direct correlation between price and performance like that, but hypothetically, if I could save $100 on a GPU and $100 for Windows... that is getting close to being worth it. I'm not sure a substantial increase like that is realistic, and as it's been pointed out, Windows will compete.

I agree and anything but minor performance improvements seems beyond wishful thinking, especially for version 1.

 

[VicDaMoan03]

I've never been a PC gamer but SteamOS is making me consider building a PC since it makes it more affordable. How would I get SteamOS on a new build without an OS already installed? I wouldn't be able to get online and D/L it.

Also how does a GTX 760 compare to a PS4/Xbox One graphics and performance wise?

 

[Freeman]

I wonder how this endeavor will stretch VALVe's resources?
Doing Steam for Windows, the storefront, their games, Source 2.0, controller hardware and now SteamOS?

300-400 employees, probably only 150 of whom would be considered true engineers.
vs. Microsoft with I dunno 10.000 engineers?
If Microsoft wakes up, sees the writing on the wall, they could easily "repair" what's broken in W8 in W9. They could include a gamer mode that shuts down unneeded processes. But I don't believe there is much to be gained in performance. When Windows idles there is probably 1% of the CPU utilized.
(I think the new consoles with their fancy MediaCenter UIs utilize way more of the GPU and CPU than Windows, up to 10%).

W7/W8 are not resource heavy at all, maybe on RAM but that is so ubiquitous with 16GB being the standard in a few years.
Drivers are mature and always up-to-date on Windows. Not sure how willing Nvidia and AMD are to invest more into Linux drivers.

Will definitely be interesting to see those claims of better performance on SteamOS.

That is not the way the world work, big companies are beat to the punch all the time. MS is practically a collection of missed opportunities in the last decade.

 

[Crisco]

I wonder how this endeavor will stretch VALVe's resources?
Doing Steam for Windows, the storefront, their games, Source 2.0, controller hardware and now SteamOS?

300-400 employees, probably only 150 of whom would be considered true engineers.
vs. Microsoft with I dunno 10.000 engineers?
If Microsoft wakes up, sees the writing on the wall, they could easily "repair" what's broken in W8 in W9. They could include a gamer mode that shuts down unneeded processes. But I don't believe there is much to be gained in performance. When Windows idles there is probably 1% of the CPU utilized.
(I think the new consoles with their fancy MediaCenter UIs utilize way more of the GPU and CPU than Windows, up to 10%).

W7/W8 are not resource heavy at all, maybe on RAM but that is so ubiquitous with 16GB being the standard in a few years.
Drivers are mature and always up-to-date on Windows. Not sure how willing Nvidia and AMD are to invest more into Linux drivers.

Will definitely be interesting to see those claims of better performance on SteamOS.

Yeah dude, they aren't coding a whole OS here. It's essentially just a Linux distro with optimized drivers and a custom UI. The open source community is still doing most of the heavy lifting.

Also, it's not so much about being resource hogs, as you said W7/W8 are pretty damn light as they are. It's more about removing a layer or two of abstraction in the API, allowing more efficient use of hardware resources. At least over the long term. Day one performance will probably be on par, if not a little worse than Windows.

 

[InsertCredit]

Brilliant stuff!

Being able to run games on top of a more optimised kernel / driver stack than currently possible is one of the more exciting developments for (pc) gaming in years. Seeing how OpenGL has recently caught up with DirectX's graphics libs and Valve's apparent close connections with GPU venders seem to indicate this might actually happen.

Besides pure gaming, I'd love for Valve to put in the resources to build a new window manager on top of the current ubuntu/debian core. Using SteamOS as an optimised platform to run graphically intensive software (3d modelling, video compositing etc) sounds brilliant.

Perhaps a bit of a pipe-dream for now, but hey, big things have small beginnings.

 

[Haunted]

Need more details, though.

 

[RedSwirl]

This is so accurate. People here really don't understand this when they keep banging on about "why are people so stupid, why doesn't everyone game on PCs". It will never have the mainstream appeal of a console.
EDIT: And yes I'm a PC gamer by the way, I made my new small form factor build a week or two back.

But I still see this as an attempt to lower the barrier of entry.

I may be wrong, but I think the main target audience for Steam OS and Steam Box is people who aren't already invested in Steam because they can't get into PC gaming. Steam itself has already streamlined a lot of the complexities of PC gaming on the software side. Now Valve seems to be trying to do it on the hardware side (with the help of other hardware companies).

It's possible they're trying to reach a point where Joe Six Pack can walk into Best Buy, buy a box, hook it up to his TV, and immediately start buying games on Steam. At the very least I think it might attract more hardcore console gamers who aren't quite experienced with gaming on Windows.

I'm sure this is a derpy question, but is the reason why manufacturers of Smart TVs and set-top boxes don't support Windows that they would have to pay MS is they did?

Pretty much.

 

[R_thanatos]

And no I'm not crazy I just demand that she knows his to fix her toys before I give them to her. Next year we're moving onto cars.

She has a bright future ahead of her.

 

[Symphonic]

How demanding do you think streaming will be? I've got a Steam Big Picture shitty laptop machine connected to my PC downstairs that at MAX can play Runner 2 with all the settings up.

 

[SatelliteOfLove]

"Don't give the fans what they say they want, give them what they didn't know they wanted."

 

[Wolfgunblood Garopa]

Windows has plenty of issues if you go looking for them. Me being on linux I could easily fix 3 issues ms hasn't for me in 3 major OS updates hasn't. Altering a few settings or having certain things done right so it's not an issue would be a huge change for me than putting up with this part of windows cause I have to use it. Also what is substantial, I can get percentages but words that don't have precision in this instance don't really tell me much.

I rarely hear griping about Windows other than for reasons based on principle.

 

[angular graphics]

so did they state what distro they are using and if they are creating libraries for game development?

I think one can safely assume it is based on Ubuntu.

We also know they working on a DX10/11-to-OpenGL translator which they have hinted they want to release, they have hired the creator of SDL (and they've used SDL for all their Linux ports), and they are collaborating on the development of two Linux debuggers.

 

[x3sphere]

What's the point in that. If someone is doing that wouldn't they be better off getting a console if that is what they want?

I have multiple PCs in the house, I wouldn't mind turning one of them into a pure gaming box and not deal with all the hassles Windows brings.

For the people that just want a console with SteamOS preloaded there will be the Steambox presumably.

The versatility of it is great. I don't have to go out an buy hardware if I want to use SteamOS. It would be great if other companies went this route, I mean how cool would it be just to load up the PS4 OS on your PC to run games? Like I said, could see this happening with the next console generation -- especially since MS and Sony will be making most of their money from online services, it makes sense not to focus on hardware...

 

[Kalnos]

300-400 employees, probably only 150 of whom would be considered true engineers. vs. Microsoft with I dunno 10.000 engineers?

Brook's Law.

 

[Guy.brush]

That is not the way the world work, big companies are beat to the punch all the time. MS is practically a collection of missed opportunities in the last decade.

True. But only by companies that are in pure FOCUS mode. How many VALVe guys are working on SteamOS? And what does that mean for stuff like HL3?

Don't get me wrong. I wish we would have a better OS than Windows. Cleaner, leaner, meaner. But I heard that "Linux just needs a couple more years to conquer the desktop" talk for over a decade now.
Now everyone hates the desktop so it switched to the Living Room (tm).

 

[MercuryLS]

I really hope games that run on SteamOS support the Xbox One controller and the DS4. Announce the Steambox already, if it's powerful enough and still has the awesome Steam game sales prices (as well as support for media apps and emulators) I might jump ship to it exclusively.

 

[maniac-kun]

My alternative naming conventions:

SteamOS should be: GLaDOS

SteamBox should be: GabeCube

Controller should be: GabePad

 

[toddhunter]

I'm sure this is a derpy question, but is the reason why manufacturers of Smart TVs and set-top boxes don't support Windows that they would have to pay MS is they did?

Partly. But it is also because a smart TV doesn't need 99% of what Windows is doing in the background and hence without it can get away with much, much lower (cheaper) specs.

 

[Azulsky]

I wonder how this endeavor will stretch VALVe's resources?
Doing Steam for Windows, the storefront, their games, Source 2.0, controller hardware and now SteamOS?

300-400 employees, probably only 150 of whom would be considered true engineers.
vs. Microsoft with I dunno 10.000 engineers?
If Microsoft wakes up, sees the writing on the wall, they could easily "repair" what's broken in W8 in W9. They could include a gamer mode that shuts down unneeded processes. But I don't believe there is much to be gained in performance. When Windows idles there is probably 1% of the CPU utilized.
(I think the new consoles with their fancy MediaCenter UIs utilize way more of the GPU and CPU than Windows, up to 10%).

W7/W8 are not resource heavy at all, maybe on RAM but that is so ubiquitous with 16GB being the standard in a few years.
Drivers are mature and always up-to-date on Windows. Not sure how willing Nvidia and AMD are to invest more into Linux drivers.

Will definitely be interesting to see those claims of better performance on SteamOS.

Valve makes more money per employee than Google or Apple.

Also Valve has become more focused, as when they released the Augmented Reality team.

 

[oneils]

pretty sure someone has already mentioned this...

But, the repetition of "living room machine" and not "living room pc" makes me think that perhaps they will announce their own hardware soon. I'm guessing the word "machine" is not by accident.

 

[Syphon Filter]

I really hope games that run on SteamOS support the Xbox One controller and the DS4. Announce the Steambox already, if it's powerful enough and still has the awesome Steam game sales prices (as well as support for media apps and emulators) I might jump ship to it exclusively.

There is a valve controller specific for the steambox, it was rumored a while ago.

 

[CornBurrito]

I'm ignorant, but if it is linux based will it not be able to run the vast majority of my steam library which is Windows/Mac only?

 

[TheBear]

So.. will Steam OS play my whole steam library (i.e windows games) or only games that are linux based?

 

[Grief.exe]

pretty sure someone has already mentioned this...

But, the repetition of "living room machine" and not "living room pc" makes me think that perhaps they will announce their own hardware soon. I'm guessing the word "machine" is not by accident.

Probably announceing on Friday.

Your post leads me to believe that you didn't know that Valve hardware has been known for a long time now.

I really hope games that run on SteamOS support the Xbox One controller and the DS4. Announce the Steambox already, if it's powerful enough and still has the awesome Steam game sales prices (as well as support for media apps and emulators) I might jump ship to it exclusively.

That will be up to the manufacturers and not Valve.

If both the XB1 and DS4 controllers support Xinput, the current standard, then there will be no issues.

 

[Guy.brush]

STEAM MACHINE (tm) sounds better than SteamBox

 

[Valnen]

It doesn't.

So it's essentially worthless then unless you want to stream games and have input lag. I see no reason to use an OS unless all my games are supported natively on it.

 

[WolvenOne]

http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/portalmylittleponycrossover/

>_>;

 

[delirium]

I'm ignorant, but if it is linux based will it not be able to run the vast majority of my steam library which is Windows/Mac only?

From what it seems, you can run Linux games on Steam or stream games from another PC.

 

[Stumpokapow]

I'm ignorant, but if it is linux based will it not be able to run the vast majority of my steam library which is Windows/Mac only?

I wonder how they'll deal with it. My prediction: They'll work behind the scenes to improve Linux performance, make it easier to port, and secure AAA ports while simultaneously deploying some sort of feature... like ... probably streaming? to be able to beam games from Windows to Linux so that you can access the rest of your library as long as you have a Windows PC running Steam.

Maybe they'll post a FAQ sometime soon that clarifies this.

 

[drhankmccoyphd]

Does anyone else find it odd that this announcement isn't on the homepage?

 

[Luigison]

Steam Box and Big Picture makes Steam OS inevitable. I wish I could say the same for HL3.

Here's to the hope that the Steam Box/OS has the best killer app: Orange Cube: HL3, TF3, & Portal 3!

 

[DTKT]

http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/portalmylittleponycrossover/

>_>;

That last part of the url can be whatever you want.

http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/patatepatate/

 

[Kalnos]

I wonder how they'll deal with it. My prediction: They'll work behind the scenes to improve Linux performance, make it easier to port, and secure AAA ports while simultaneously deploying some sort of feature... like ... probably streaming? to be able to beam games from Windows to Linux so that you can access the rest of your library as long as you have a Windows PC running Steam.

Maybe they'll post a FAQ sometime soon that clarifies this.

LOL, brutal.