the 4 gig ram requirement isnt for the OS, linux runs on less than 500Mb of ram (often lower than 250), whereas windows uses a whopping 1 to 1.5 gigs. Its a requirement because 4 gigs of ram is their basic requirement for a steam machine low end model. You need that much ram to be able to play the steam library, because if you arent using steamOS for gaming, WTF are you doing?PoolCleaningRobot said:
SteamOS Now Available For Download
- Thread starter Steven Bogos
- Start date
I think I have a spare 500gb hard drive lying around. Might be willing to give this bad boy a try.
Ok, so this whole thing have confused me in several ways.
First of all, why are people complaining that it is nothing more than a regular linux OS bundled and more deeply integrated with steam? Isn't that exactly what they said it would be already in the initial announcement?
Second, what is up with those requirements? Like, how come it actually needs 500 GB just to install, or 1 TB if you use the "easy" way (described as such in their guides)?
I can understand things like requiring nvidia for the simple reason that this is in BETA and they decided to release it as such before making sure AMD works properly though.
Third, why does it delete everything on the computer? Every other OS I know of can share the computer with other operatingsystems if you just make sure to setup a dualboot by using, say, GRUB. All that an OS actually should need to clean is the partition you install it in, right?
I dont think I will download it anytime soon, but when it is in a more finished state I will probably do so.
Sounds to me like it could possible end up as a perfectly fine alternative to other linux-based OS's such as ubuntu, and I actually suspect it will turn out to be better in the end, as people move to it and improve it themselves. Not to mention valve will probably continue updating it as well.
So when I need some sort of linux on my laptop for university purposes I might end up trying out a dual-boot with steamOS rather than kubuntu... If they just remove that 500 GB hdd requirement.
First of all, why are people complaining that it is nothing more than a regular linux OS bundled and more deeply integrated with steam? Isn't that exactly what they said it would be already in the initial announcement?
Second, what is up with those requirements? Like, how come it actually needs 500 GB just to install, or 1 TB if you use the "easy" way (described as such in their guides)?
I can understand things like requiring nvidia for the simple reason that this is in BETA and they decided to release it as such before making sure AMD works properly though.
Third, why does it delete everything on the computer? Every other OS I know of can share the computer with other operatingsystems if you just make sure to setup a dualboot by using, say, GRUB. All that an OS actually should need to clean is the partition you install it in, right?
I dont think I will download it anytime soon, but when it is in a more finished state I will probably do so.
Sounds to me like it could possible end up as a perfectly fine alternative to other linux-based OS's such as ubuntu, and I actually suspect it will turn out to be better in the end, as people move to it and improve it themselves. Not to mention valve will probably continue updating it as well.
So when I need some sort of linux on my laptop for university purposes I might end up trying out a dual-boot with steamOS rather than kubuntu... If they just remove that 500 GB hdd requirement.
I'm guessing that the HDD and RAM requirements are because this is intended for playing games on. The OS itself won't need that much space or RAM, but games are getting bigger and bigger.
Think about it, 500GB HDD usually translates to about 460GB usable. Take off 50GB(pulling a number out of my ass. Probably anywhere between 10-100GB) for the OS and swap files, and that leaves 400GB. How big was the last COD? 40GB or something silly? That drive is going to fill up fast.
The requirements are high for an OS because what's the point of a gaming OS if your computer isn't fast enough to run the damn games?
Think about it, 500GB HDD usually translates to about 460GB usable. Take off 50GB(pulling a number out of my ass. Probably anywhere between 10-100GB) for the OS and swap files, and that leaves 400GB. How big was the last COD? 40GB or something silly? That drive is going to fill up fast.
The requirements are high for an OS because what's the point of a gaming OS if your computer isn't fast enough to run the damn games?
@Deathlyphil: I don't think the size requirement of 500 GB is going to stay. Think about the possibility to save games on other partitions as well. Your OS partition doesn't need to be the size of 500 GB. And what's with people that want to use an SSD? I think they just have it in place for now, because they did not have the time yet to make partitioning, multi-partition-management and boot manager work alright (just a guess though).
I won't test it, but probably will try it out in a more advanced state, maybe when it is out of beta and I would be reinstalling Linux Mint for further support.
I won't test it, but probably will try it out in a more advanced state, maybe when it is out of beta and I would be reinstalling Linux Mint for further support.
Pfff, your such a hard drive.Res Plus said:
On another note:
This has my official blah. Im willing to bet this instance just a temporary thing with the beta, but it had better not be a recurring trend.
Any "optimizations" they make for this will be equally available for Linux. Linux is the way to go, not SteamOS. SteamOS is a gaming OS only and it doesnt, in any ways, substitute to windows or linux.Ultratwinkie said:
I am tremendously intrigued to see how this develops. Less compelling on the viability front, more compelling on the justifiability. Granted a full-fledged OS that handles itself on newer code than Windows would be nice, but hell, the gamer in me just loves the idea that this could herald a new approach to streamlined operating systems. Hardly the start of a golden age, but a start is a start!
I'm amazed this is even a thing. I figured the nature of this OS implied pretty clearly that this would happen.Infernal Lawyer said:
Well said!Mr.K. said:
I should have specified this happened when the OS was installed (as it does with ALL OS'), but yes. Hell, I only found out a few days ago that doing so would wipe your data (not the hard way), but the integrity of data is something I would have thought anyone who knows even a little about computers would have been wary with, especially with a Beta OS.Icehearted said:
Well I was hoping to give the operating a system a shot on my old laptop, but the the minimum specs are too high for it. Ah well, guess I'll have to wait for the release of the actual console then.
I read that more like:Res Plus said:
Partition, you are god; damn HDD!
I haven't been part of too many beta tests, but I don't think I would mind being part of this one. I'm not sure that I could put in the time to be of any use to anyone at this point. If it works as promised, I am all for it. I like the idea that games will not be forced to become operating-system-obsolete. I also don't plan on getting a Windows 8 machine, so if games start coming out that require that system, I am going to be in trouble.
This just in: Generally speaking people are really bad at computers.Ultratwinkie said:
Seriously though it's extremely worrying isn't it?
Even better, if SteamOS is going to be using Debian as a base and drawing updates automatically it'll already have apt-get on there, Skype is in the Debian repository I think so you should be able to pull it using apt-get install.Da Orky Man said:
You missed the third and worst type, those that think they know what they're doing but fall just short of the mark.RicoADF said:
They know enough to get in to sensitive areas but not enough to know what they're doing when they hit that point, I imagine that's where the majority of wiped OSes are coming from.
I need me a GUI. Ubuntu requires only 1/2 Gig RAM, a good thing. I do have to wonder if it is as optimized for gaming as Steam OS. Will it use graphics drivers better or worse or no difference? Will the Steam controller work better, worse, no different regardless of OS? In Ubuntu, you'd be running Steam over over Ubuntu's own OS. More over-head?Skeleon said:
If the answer is no difference, I think you are right. At least Ubuntu has browsers and multiple developers working on it. And you can still only play games for Linux, either way.
I saw a demo of a guy playing Metro Last Light on youtube. Might just be youtube video, but it looked a step down for it going from DX 11 to OpenGl.
I'm still waiting for more results and hoping. If Linux really catches up to the DX world, I'll be building me another rig, even if I don't need one.
Well... duh? This isn't supposed to be the end-all-be-all OS that everyone needs to use. It's an OS for people who like to game; especially those who use their PC exclusively for gaming. The whole point of using it over Windows is that you don't have Windows running several needless programs in the background, taking-up resource space that could be used towards processing the game faster.Skeleon said:
Also, this is good for Windows. By releasing an OS specifically for gaming, they are forcing Microsoft to step-up their game and deliver a better product with the next Windows, otherwise future versions of Windows are going to see a large drop in sales when several gamers opt to just install the Steam OS as their only OS.
Beta operating systems are a headache, I wouldn't recommend it to anybody unless you have a huge amount of free time, are very experienced with linux and are willing to do a lot of troubleshooting work to see something new.
Because when you install an OS you're stuck with it forever.Yoshi4102 said:
My previous IT experience is that, besides a very small population of tech savvy people, no one worries about data in any way until they lose it, despite multiple warnings from the IT department that someday your computer will crash or get infected or get run over by a bus. At which time they come to me and tell me that it is my job to spend days trying to make up for their idiocy. I mean, we even bought you a hard drive and installed automatic backup software! All you needed to do was plug it in for 10 minutes once a day!Infernal Lawyer said:
And do you know what the worst part is? Even after this happens, they still fail to backup their data.
But that was my previous job. Now some other sucker has to deal with it.