Escapist News Now: SteamOS Announced

[cookyt]

I called this! Hah. Linux is way too unfriendly to new users so I figured they'd either alter the interface or modify linux heavily to make it easier to use.

Linux doesn't have a user interface, it's a kernel. So in that regard any Linux distribution is heavily modified.

Thank you for that correction. It irritates me that most Windows users don't understand that an operating system is not defined by its user interface. It's like saying that you don't like roast beef sandwiches because the whole wheat bread puts you off. You may never taste the meaty deliciousness of roast beef because you don't understand that there are dozens of different breads available with which to make a roast beef sandwich.

Likewise, there are dozens of user interfaces available on Linux, and critisizing the entire operating system because of a bad experience with just one of them blinds you to all the possibilities.

OT:
Has Valve released any of the OS specs yet. I'm assuming it'll just be a customized version of Ubuntu, but maybe they have something interesting up their sleeve. Also, calling it now: we'll get to Friday, and they'll announce that they're postponing the third announcement indefinately. Because everyone knows Valve can't count to three.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

I know there are many people here that understand this OS stuff better than me.....alot better. But, I still dont get whom this OS is aimed for? Ok, PC users could use it i guess. But the actual SteamBox, if it is a thing, not sure who this is aimed at? PC gamers would rather upgrade their PC and they already have Steam. Console gamers? Not sure. I was thinking the Steam box could be a cheaper gamer thing where you play games over the cloud? I dont know if you would need a high tech box thats expensive if your playing games over the cloud....wouldnt that be doing on the processing etc? For me, if a Steam box allowed you to play games, then i would expect it to be high tech so i can play all the games at the highest settings all the time and would it be future proof? If it is wouldnt that mean the original box would be expensive?

Im not a knowledgeable PC person - so not sure if this comment is relevant in anyway. lol.

 

[Bostur]

I called this! Hah. Linux is way too unfriendly to new users so I figured they'd either alter the interface or modify linux heavily to make it easier to use.

Linux doesn't have a user interface, it's a kernel. So in that regard any Linux distribution is heavily modified.

In practice Linux based OS's are very suitable for customizing and for specialized tasks like media centers. Which would make it perfect for gaming machines. I have always imagined that a Linux based steam box would look something like the current steam in big screen mode. Turn it on, wait 10 seconds, show a menu of available games.

You know what I meant, let's not be cheeky here.
Yes it's a very good OS for certain things I was not at all putting it down for that, if not for linux gaming servers would be awful, okay most servers would be awful.
But if most aren't willing to switch to a new windows because the interface looks funny, then they'd be far less likely to switch to version of Linux, which is probably a good thing they went with a new SteamOS gui of linux.

Seriously guys I'm not bashing linux, I'm saying most people are barely willing to try something outside of their comfort zone has nothing to do with linux being tricky or not. It could be the easiest OS in the world but if you have the start bar lets say on the right by default and you CAN change it, people will still probably avoid it for a years till things are pushed.

I suppose I was a bit cheeky, but for a good reason. When people say something like "Linux is hard" or "Linux is ugly" they are refering to a very specific flavour of Linux, the one they tried. Linux does not look or feel like anything in particular, but specific distributions of Linux do. It is a bit like dismissing all games just because someone tried out GTA and didn't like it. If someone tries out Valve's particular flavour of Linux and don't like it, that would be a more fair assesment.

Seriously I know you are not bashing Linux, but a lot of people have a hard time grasping the concept that sometimes software has no look or feel, but can be a lot of different things. People may be using Linux without even realizing it, through embedded systems, servers and gadgets and as you mention yourself gaming servers. I have a feeling that the flavour of Linux inside Valve's console will look very much like Steam in big screen mode. I imagine it will just look like a thing with buttons to press to play games ;-)

I know there are many people here that understand this OS stuff better than me.....alot better. But, I still dont get whom this OS is aimed for? Ok, PC users could use it i guess. But the actual SteamBox, if it is a thing, not sure who this is aimed at? PC gamers would rather upgrade their PC and they already have Steam. Console gamers? Not sure. I was thinking the Steam box could be a cheaper gamer thing where you play games over the cloud? I dont know if you would need a high tech box thats expensive if your playing games over the cloud....wouldnt that be doing on the processing etc? For me, if a Steam box allowed you to play games, then i would expect it to be high tech so i can play all the games at the highest settings all the time and would it be future proof? If it is wouldnt that mean the original box would be expensive?

Im not a knowledgeable PC person - so not sure if this comment is relevant in anyway. lol.

It's a good question I think. It might be a competitor for other gaming consoles, a second computer to put in the living room just for gaming and multimedia purposes. For people who like the openness and freedom of a PC, but who don't want to build a multimedia machine from the ground up themselves.
The OS itself would at first probably be most interesting for people who use Linux as a desktop system, having a distribution that can run a lot of games sounds like a good thing to me, and it may cause some Linux users to uninstall Windows completely. Also the tech could flow into other linux distributions making them all more gaming friendly. That is common practice for Open Source Software.

In the long term Windows may not be suitable for gaming at all, this was the concern that caused Valve to start the project in the first place. If future releases of Windows becomes gamer unfriendly the audience may be anyone currently owning PCs for gaming purposes.

This is just a first step. I don't think a lot of people will convert to SteamOS right away, but if it turns out to be good more and more users may slowly start using it.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Well, that's one helluva tease for a "not-console".
Lets hope the actual reveal won't be the unveiling of another Trojan Horse like the Xbone reveal.

As for the other announcements; pitching updates to the Steam service seems most logical. HL3...eh, I'd like to claim it's not as important as the introduction of SteamOS in the grander scheme of things, but SteamOS isn't what the gaming public has been obsessing over for years now.

I know better.

 

[Snotnarok]

I called this! Hah. Linux is way too unfriendly to new users so I figured they'd either alter the interface or modify linux heavily to make it easier to use.

Linux doesn't have a user interface, it's a kernel. So in that regard any Linux distribution is heavily modified.

In practice Linux based OS's are very suitable for customizing and for specialized tasks like media centers. Which would make it perfect for gaming machines. I have always imagined that a Linux based steam box would look something like the current steam in big screen mode. Turn it on, wait 10 seconds, show a menu of available games.

You know what I meant, let's not be cheeky here.
Yes it's a very good OS for certain things I was not at all putting it down for that, if not for linux gaming servers would be awful, okay most servers would be awful.
But if most aren't willing to switch to a new windows because the interface looks funny, then they'd be far less likely to switch to version of Linux, which is probably a good thing they went with a new SteamOS gui of linux.

Seriously guys I'm not bashing linux, I'm saying most people are barely willing to try something outside of their comfort zone has nothing to do with linux being tricky or not. It could be the easiest OS in the world but if you have the start bar lets say on the right by default and you CAN change it, people will still probably avoid it for a years till things are pushed.

I suppose I was a bit cheeky, but for a good reason. When people say something like "Linux is hard" or "Linux is ugly" they are refering to a very specific flavour of Linux, the one they tried. Linux does not look or feel like anything in particular, but specific distributions of Linux do. It is a bit like dismissing all games just because someone tried out GTA and didn't like it. If someone tries out Valve's particular flavour of Linux and don't like it, that would be a more fair assesment.

Seriously I know you are not bashing Linux, but a lot of people have a hard time grasping the concept that sometimes software has no look or feel, but can be a lot of different things. People may be using Linux without even realizing it, through embedded systems, servers and gadgets and as you mention yourself gaming servers. I have a feeling that the flavour of Linux inside Valve's console will look very much like Steam in big screen mode. I imagine it will just look like a thing with buttons to press to play games ;-)

I'm aware, I forgot the one I tried it's been so long, it was fairly easy but I had to look up a few work arounds for silly things. I was only playing with it since I've been satisfied with windows for ages.
Well, of course, isn't that what I said before? That Linux would be too cumbersome for the average joe so I figured they'd make their own OS?
I just wish I said it here so I could have been like (LINK TO ME BEING SUPER FUTURE PREDICTING). You know to make my internet ego huge! D: ...You don't even like my avatar do you *cries*

 

[Bostur]

I'm aware, I forgot the one I tried it's been so long, it was fairly easy but I had to look up a few work arounds for silly things. I was only playing with it since I've been satisfied with windows for ages.
Well, of course, isn't that what I said before? That Linux would be too cumbersome for the average joe so I figured they'd make their own OS?
I just wish I said it here so I could have been like (LINK TO ME BEING SUPER FUTURE PREDICTING). You know to make my internet ego huge! D: ...You don't even like my avatar do you *cries*

Your avatar is nice, but it needs a haircut. ;-)

You did say so. I think you got unlucky and became representative of everyone saying "Linux is ", and there has been a lot of that lately with the steambox announcements. I didn't specifically criticize you, but was attempting to explain the concepts generally. But I suppose it was a bit unfair towards you.

I don't agree that typical Linux based OSs are too cumbersome for avergae Joes though. Although installing a fresh OS often is, no matter the brand. Windows can be an absolute pain to install to multiboot - ouch. But average Joes usually don't need to bother with that since they get the OS pre-installed.

 

[Snotnarok]

I'm aware, I forgot the one I tried it's been so long, it was fairly easy but I had to look up a few work arounds for silly things. I was only playing with it since I've been satisfied with windows for ages.
Well, of course, isn't that what I said before? That Linux would be too cumbersome for the average joe so I figured they'd make their own OS?
I just wish I said it here so I could have been like (LINK TO ME BEING SUPER FUTURE PREDICTING). You know to make my internet ego huge! D: ...You don't even like my avatar do you *cries*

Your avatar is nice, but it needs a haircut. ;-)

You did say so. I think you got unlucky and became representative of everyone saying "Linux is ", and there has been a lot of that lately with the steambox announcements. I didn't specifically criticize you, but was attempting to explain the concepts generally. But I suppose it was a bit unfair towards you.

I don't agree that typical Linux based OSs are too cumbersome for avergae Joes though. Although installing a fresh OS often is, no matter the brand. Windows can be an absolute pain to install to multiboot - ouch. But average Joes usually don't need to bother with that since they get the OS pre-installed.

You mean I need the butt off my head in my silly self portrait :V

I have that problem, I've said it probably too much that I'm not a fan of the Zelda series, played ever one of them and only like 1 and it's not OoT, so I get "WHAAAT you're stupid! How can you hate it!?" Not hate, just don't like playing.

It's ...not that it's too cumbersome for them to learn, it's that it's too cumbersome for them to BOTHER. Many people don't even want to learn how to use WIN8, even if it's exactly the same.
There's no start bar? Well if you move your mouse to the same corner and click...you get the metro bar, that has been pointed out in vids on youtube to be "a stupid change".
I caved and got WIN8 when it was 15 bucks for the upgrade and honestly? It's been nice and ..the same exact experience so whenever someone says WIN8 is bad, I think I get the same confusion some get; as you said "Linux is confusing"; as the linux users get confused, I get confused in that way with WIN8 dislike. Not that it bothers me, like what you like but when someone claims it's hard, and it's super similar, it's head scratching.