SteamOS

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DarkHand

Senior Member
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Valve's big countdown event is still going on, but the first of three reveals is... revealed:

SteamOS

GabeN has been incredibly disapproving of Win8 as a gaming platform and it looks like he's taking the fight to Microsoft.

The Source engine has already been ported to Linux, Valve is making major contributions to Linux video drivers and the announcement states that several other triple-a titles will natevely run on Linux next year.

The next reveal is almost guaranteed to be their SteamBox, a PC-console hybrid for the livingroom that Valve has been hinting at for some time and will run SteamOS. The third reveal is still anyone's guess.

Gaming is pretty much the last reason I use Windows at home at all. Could Valve have enough muscle to finally break Linux's chicken-and-egg problem?
 
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:hmm:

popcorn.gif
 
Don't see why it would be any different from any other new console launch. Their big advantage here is that they already have an established customer base and a proven game library.
 
Don't see why it would be any different from any other new console launch. Their big advantage here is that they already have an established customer base and a proven game library.

That how it looks on the surface, but GabeN's ulterior motive seems to be a lot more grand than that... He's trying to unseat Windows from the home PC market en masse.

I don't know if he can pull it off, but if SteamOS were to actually take off as he expects it to, I really wouldn't have a reason to use Windows at home ever again. There might be a few things I'd need to dual boot occasionally for, but that's what I do with Linux now. The situations would reverse.
 
in the grand scheme of things, in terms of all windows users. the number of them that are gamers is low.

most are just joe schmoe wacking it to porn or posting on fb. these people wont care about steamOS
 
Word. My guess is most hardcore steamers that have 100's of titles in their libraries already run things like ubuntu and other alternatives.

What's interesting is Valve is down the street from Microsoft.
 
True, but who knows what would happen if the chicken and egg problem were solved.

Folks start using Linux at home in larger numbers, and there will be more support. More and more apps would port over natively, more people would realize they don't need to pay $100 something bucks for their OS, and the cycle continues.

It hasn't happened yet, but who knows what'll finally start the ball rolling. Maybe it's when joe shmoe sees that all his games need something like SteamOS to run.

There's a rumor going around that a major AAA title will be released as a SteamOS exclusive in 2014; that could even be the third announcement. That sure would be a way to bring a bunch of people over.
 
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I dunno. I'm tired of waiting for valve.

How long have we been waiting for HL2:EP3???? (Or HL3, whatever they decide to call it)

Same goes for game support on Linux.
 
platforms are obsolete.

every day, tvs come with more processing power, ram, storage space, and downloadable apps. The day of any console-- game, dvd, blue ray, etc, are numbered and are basically obsolete media
 
platforms are obsolete.

every day, tvs come with more processing power, ram, storage space, and downloadable apps. The day of any console-- game, dvd, blue ray, etc, are numbered and are basically obsolete media

Obsolete my ass. The Xbox One and PS4 are about to drop.


TV's aren't standard yet. Most of the smart tv experiences I've used are garbage. A family member has a top of the line recently bought samsung display with all the smart jazz. It lags when you play a youtube video. We're a few years away folks. Chromecast/HD boxes/Some smart systems are changing the game, but that's for streaming media. Not games.
 
Obsolete my ass. The Xbox One and PS4 are about to drop.


TV's aren't standard yet. Most of the smart tv experiences I've used are garbage. A family member has a top of the line recently bought samsung display with all the smart jazz. It lags when you play a youtube video. We're a few years away folks. Chromecast/HD boxes/Some smart systems are changing the game, but that's for streaming media. Not games.

True, TV's are getting way better at streaming content, but as far as gaming, no way, especially next gen games. TV manufacturers need to work on hardware, not trying to make 55" tablets.
 
sure, it's not there yet.... but its replacing a technology. it won't be long before things are better.

I have a sumsung with the apps... the 'web browser' sucks.... but that's mostly because its embedded flash/etc and subject to the webpage's encoding and delivery of it.

when the box can be replaced with an app, the box is obsolete.

remember pcmcia wireless network cards?
usb wi fi dongles?

it's all embedded these days.


streaming shit through a real app like Netflix of hulu is mint.
 
I seriously doubt SteamOS will unseat microsoft. lol

Probably not, but you've gotta start somewhere!

For years, Nvidia has notoriously laughed in the face of the open source community when it comes to open drivers... They just announced that they'll be working to make their Linux drivers more open source, and that's only a day after the steamos announcement.

BTW - 2 minutes until the next announcement.

EDIT: Announcement 2 is that the Steambox will actually be an open licensing thing that other hardware companies will be able to sell, and that Valve is offering 300 free prototype units to random beta testers.
 
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