Valve Reveals SteamOS

[iniudan]

The only thing I have to ask is... why? The console can't really stand alone, considering its Linux library is bare bones to say the least. So, in order to play any games worth their salt, it will require a running a high end gaming PC somewhere else in the house running Windows or MacOS.

Then, on top of that, you'll have to have another piece of gaming hardware sitting in the living room.

At that point, what's the lure? Why strip your PC Of all the other features that you'd want/need just for this OS? Why not just run Steam on said Living Room rig in Big Picture Mode running Windows?

It seems like reinventing the wheel, and unnecessarily. A great idea hampered by the fact that it's relying on a complicated home-network setup to function with everything on Steam's Library. Either that, or you get stuck with the limited Linux-based stuff.

And you are making a mistake right here, yes you would still need proper gaming hardware for the steam server, the but streaming client, could actually be pretty much be anything with a screen or that connect into a screen, if the streaming client software is release under free license. Basically you would just need a smart TV or an Apple TV box for example to connect to a Windows steam server. SteamOS is just Linux solution for HTPC (and possibly desktop, either through official and unofficial support, it mostly just a matter of knowing if Valve will support desktop software through official package repository, has I am certain someone will create package to make steamOS into a desktop OS, if they don't provide official support)

 

[lacktheknack]

not sure if i got this right but is this supposed to be a new and improved linux operating system for those who don't want to learn linux

or is it trying simply trying to imitate a console of some kind

either way it looks quite interesting, wouldn't replace my current OS but that's only because i spent 50 quid for windows 8 -.-

The second one. Linux distros already have the "User Friendly" scale covered (Ubuntu for n00bs, ARCH for masochists, and everything in between).

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

GabeN is a fuckin' deity. This sounds really good. Open source gaming OS. What's not to like...in theory. Now let's see about that Half-Life 3 announcement.

 

[SinisterGehe]

In other words, in case there was any question, this all but guarantees that an announcement of a Steam box - the "SteamOS machine," as Valve puts it - will follow soon.

That's kinda what I figure is going to happen as well, but who knows. All I know is that the announcement confused me greatly, because those vague, jargon-y promises pretty quickly make my eyes glaze over in boredom.

Also, I can't take credit for this, but "SteamOS" should totally be called "GladOS" instead.

[sub][sub]Hurr hurr, Andy Shandy, I'm in the threads, stealing your jokes![/sub][/sub]

I think the steam box should give all notifications as Glados.... Like when you boot to desktop "Oh it is you... again..."


I think I need to dual boot my Gaming laptop also. I said to myself- nei! I promised that I will never go linux until I need to (Because my expensive applications for work aren't supported or support any form of linux).
Also the idea of using command line to find things took my taste away. (I know they have desktops but all the linux freaks say that the command line is better)
But if this turns out well and 80% of steam games work on it then I will go for it properly on gaming laptop and just get myself a better and newer workhorse.

 

[Doom972]

The in-home streaming sounds great (if works as advertised). I tried to set something similar myself, but without much success. If Steam will finally allow me to do this, it'll change the way I play games.

 

[Laughing Man]

Also, you're not a soothsayer. SteamOS is much more game-oriented than Windows, and it's fully possible it'll eclipse Windows in use by gamers.

The only way it would eclipse Windows is if developers start creating games for it, their seems to be a fallacy amongst the majority that if Valve makes it they will come, variants of Linux and it's ilk that can run games have been about for a good amount of time and their are still hardly any major developers using it or for that matter dual releasing on Windows alongside Linux.

MS don't charge for developers to create games on their OS, the tools and development kits for DX are out there, free to download and use and more importantly they are well developed, so given that the vast majority of the titles that use Steam will still require a Windows powered PC running to work, alongside the fact that which ever way you slice it the OS Steam will be releasing will still be new and subject to all the issues and development that goes with a new OS combined with the fact that after ten years Steam itself is still one of the slowest, bloat filled nonsense gaming clients that you can get, where exactly in all this is the proven skill set that Valve have got the chops to take on the Windows gaming market yet alone making it so big that they will force developers away from Windows to their own OS?

The real question is now that Valve have announced this, what are the reactions from the people who actually develop games? Have any big names come forward and expressed even the slightest interest? I haven't found anything yet.

 

[PoolCleaningRobot]

In SteamOS, we have achieved significant performance increases in graphics processing, and we?re now targeting audio performance and reductions in input latency at the operating system level. Game developers are already taking advantage of these gains as they target SteamOS for their new releases.

If this is legit then my body is ready. THE FUTURE IS HERE!

It'll be nice when I don't have to pay the Windows tax a few years from now just to run some programs and games that are only on Windows. And this is beautiful timing given Steve Balmer's recent comment that "Google is a monopoly" even though 90% of computers sold run Windows and come stock with Microsoft programs and services that users have to actively choose to replace all that garbage with Google products. Its just plain poetic that Balmer is one of the first big names to basically admit that Microsoft is on their way out

 

[miker00lz]

The in-home streaming sounds great (if works as advertised). I tried to set something similar myself, but without much success. If Steam will finally allow me to do this, it'll change the way I play games.

I imagine it would work pretty well over ethernet, maybe not so much with wireless. No doubt they will not be using something inefficient like the VNC method of remote display. I'm sure they will use the same technique programs like FRAPS and Dxtory use to capture game output - hooking the D3D present function directly, then intercepting the rendered output straight to a framebuffer. At this point it can be compressed in real-time (no problem for modern PCs even at 1080p if using the right codec) and tunneled out over the LAN. This could work pretty well.

That also opens up the possibility to use weaker laptops as a client as well, in case you don't feel like sitting at your PC desk to play something. Hell, even dinky little netbooks with a single core Atom could handle this easily. (Not that I'd have a lot of fun gaming on my netbook)

I was actually writing my own software to do this recently to play modern games on an old Pentium 4 I currently use to play movies on my TV. I never finished and polished it, but the basics were functional. (Not remote input, I only had the output streaming going) It was actually relatively easy to do.

 

[lacktheknack]

Also, you're not a soothsayer. SteamOS is much more game-oriented than Windows, and it's fully possible it'll eclipse Windows in use by gamers.

The only way it would eclipse Windows is if developers start creating games for it, their seems to be a fallacy amongst the majority that if Valve makes it they will come, variants of Linux and it's ilk that can run games have been about for a good amount of time and their are still hardly any major developers using it or for that matter dual releasing on Windows alongside Linux.

MS don't charge for developers to create games on their OS, the tools and development kits for DX are out there, free to download and use and more importantly they are well developed, so given that the vast majority of the titles that use Steam will still require a Windows powered PC running to work, alongside the fact that which ever way you slice it the OS Steam will be releasing will still be new and subject to all the issues and development that goes with a new OS combined with the fact that after ten years Steam itself is still one of the slowest, bloat filled nonsense gaming clients that you can get, where exactly in all this is the proven skill set that Valve have got the chops to take on the Windows gaming market yet alone making it so big that they will force developers away from Windows to their own OS?

The real question is now that Valve have announced this, what are the reactions from the people who actually develop games? Have any big names come forward and expressed even the slightest interest? I haven't found anything yet.

Well, they announced it less than three hours ago. Give them a minute.

Also, if this OS has the VM capacity to run the majority of its Steam library, as it promises, then all your reservations are kind of moot, because Valve does all the work.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

People here don't know how to fuckin' read. To all those skeptics asking if they'll be able to run their DirectX games, read this part:

In-home Streaming

You can play all your Windows and Mac games on your SteamOS machine, too. Just turn on your existing computer and run Steam as you always have - then your SteamOS machine can stream those games over your home network straight to your TV!

That sounds pretty straightforward to me.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

heh my current setup is a home theater pc with a pretty case in the living room, and a ginormous full tower game box in the next room with cables going through the wall to the TV (and a usb hub an an adapted ethernet cable next to the couch for controllers, wireless sucks)

with this I could i could connect both devices to the same "start" screen rather than behind different TV inputs

the future is awesome!

 

[miker00lz]

Also, if this OS has the VM capacity to run the majority of its Steam library, as it promises, then all your reservations are kind of moot, because Valve does all the work.

There's nothing relating to VM. You still need a Windows system on the LAN to actually run and render the games.

 

[lacktheknack]

Also, if this OS has the VM capacity to run the majority of its Steam library, as it promises, then all your reservations are kind of moot, because Valve does all the work.

There's nothing relating to VM. You still need a Windows system on the LAN to actually run and render the games.

You're right, I got completely mixed up.

Streaming is a good first step, if nothing else. It could lead to more.

 

[Tanakh]

I can't wait to hear Richard Stallman's response to this! I can hear the weeping and voodoo-stabbing already!

RMS! That magnificent bastard. He's like a cross between the best of Molyneux, some Gandhi, a tad of your craziest uncle drunk in new year's eve and too much flower power. Batshit crazy, reaching for unattainable goals and almost always losing, but fighting the good fight.

I would buy him a drink but would first try to count the grains of sand in the desert than join his crusade.

 

[Vigormortis]

I think your concerns are completely unfounded. Firstly, Valve isn't even close to being in a monopolistic position. In fact, so long as other OS's continue to exist (which they will) and the PC platform stays open (which it pretty much will), they'll never be able to abuse their position in the way a company like Microsoft used to try and do because there are always going to be other companies and competitors ready to stick the knife in and give it a good twist should Valve ever betray their customers trust to any large degree.

Second, there's absolutely no reason to believe that releasing on SteamOS would require people to use Steam as their distribution platform. Valve has been extremely vocal about the need to keep the PC platform open, and is one of the biggest criticisms they had of Windows 8. Is it possible that they could make it a closed system with Steam required? Sure. Would it work? Not in a million years. They're not going to get this OS on millions of machines by making it closed off.

Now see...stop that. Just stop.

You're using logic and making sense. The two biggest hurdles between us (the forum users) and a good Valve bashing.

Stop ruining our witch hunt, damn it! If you keep pointing out the obvious and punching holes in our irrational concerns how are we ever going to continue berating Valve and it's fans?

You're just mean...

 

[mike1921]

People here don't know how to fuckin' read. To all those skeptics asking if they'll be able to run their DirectX games, read this part:

In-home Streaming

You can play all your Windows and Mac games on your SteamOS machine, too. Just turn on your existing computer and run Steam as you always have - then your SteamOS machine can stream those games over your home network straight to your TV!

That sounds pretty straightforward to me.

Didn't seem all that clear to me, mainly because they say "existing computer" and then "your SteamOS machine" as if they're different pieces of hardware. Reading it again 3 different times I understood it but at first it sounded like something else.

 

[Vigormortis]

People here don't know how to fuckin' read. To all those skeptics asking if they'll be able to run their DirectX games, read this part:

In-home Streaming

You can play all your Windows and Mac games on your SteamOS machine, too. Just turn on your existing computer and run Steam as you always have - then your SteamOS machine can stream those games over your home network straight to your TV!

That sounds pretty straightforward to me.

And, not only that (and one wonders if the SteamOS can stream over VPNs as well) but it's a straightforward, open (and free) OS. So, should push come to shove, you can just dual boot on your machine. A process that is as easy as it gets with PCs.

 

[rofltehcat]

I think one of the most interesting parts is their announcement all the way near the bottom in which they tease that some AAA titles in 2014 will be released on it. At least this is how I understand it.

They might go for the streaming thing first, then slowly hemorrhage players away from Windows to somewhen be an actual stand alone alternative.