SteamOS will be made available when the prototype hardware ships. It will be downloadable by individual users and commercial OEMs. (But unless you’re an intrepid Linux hacker already, we’re going to recommend that you wait until later in 2014 to try it out.) We’ll post info soon about that. Oh, and stay tuned for the in-home streaming beta to begin soon, too!
The first moment of truth for Valve.
boo!
I’ve got a computer standing by as soon as an iso drops.
I think everyone will be able to download the ISO, I think the 300 hardware beta testers will be US-only… which makes sense, there’s a lot of hassle sending hardware overseas with any NDAs or what-not.
The only people affected are those 300 people who may have been chosen as a hardware beta tester, AFAICT.
Since both SteamOS and SteamBox are open, its up for computer manufacturers to replicate the components that made up of SteamBox. And then I can download the OS and buy the SteamBox components at my local PC reseller to build one myself. Else, we can just install it on any P.C. with a descent GPU and memory.
That is the point. Standard-PC with Linux-typical support for a wide range of hardware. Download the ISO and turn your existing PC into a dual-boot steam-machine. You don’t need to wait for manufactors, buy new hardware, its all there already. Except for the controller where, according to Valve, good old keyboard and mouse are still first class input-devices. Test-time is soon.
Edited 2013-12-12 11:14 UTC
And use it to run Nexuiz and Tux Racer. How cool is that?
Edited 2013-12-14 00:14 UTC
There are no NDAs, afaik the only limitation of accepting the hardware is that it is for you and you alone (ie, no ebaying). Unsure if that expires over time or for the life of the hardware.
Me too!
I am really excited! I have such high hopes for this.
Be careful not to set yourself up for a major disappointment. I’m not sure what exactly people expect from SteamOS, or how different they think it will be from a typical linux install, but it sure seems like the imagination is running wild with some people.
If I were asked to describe SteamOS, I would say it’s an attempt to bring linux gaming into the realm of consideration for the average person. Whether or not a linux pc can do that under the guise of an `upgradeable console` has yet to be seen.
I was wondering… If you already have a pc that already meets SteamOS minimum requirements, will Valve send you one of those little `Certified for SteamOS` stickers to put on it? Maybe it could go right next to the `Certified for Windows <whatever>` sticker.
I already have SteamOS… I have Linux + Steam
What I hope for is that Valve makes Android apps and games run on there Linux-distribution. Imagine if those both worlds are combined. Customer’s haven 🙂
Anyone got any idea what the minimum spec for a PC is to run SteamOS? My current Linux box has 32GB RAM, a PCIe SSD, i7 2600 (too slow?!) and am about to get an HD 7790 card (again, too slow?! And not Nvidia? I’m only getting that card because I’m not a hard-core gamer and it’s the best card under 100 pounds).
If installable SteamOS is going to take hold, it really should allow you to install on almost any box and then warn you that your experience won’t be optimal because certain bits of hardware are below par. If it blocks you doing anything until you change/upgrade that hardware, then that would be a PR disaster.
I must say that after the poor recent efforts of Ubuntu and Fedora (I blame GNOME 3 for most of that), I’m actually quite excited to see what SteamOS will bring, even if it means I’ll finally actually have to get a Steam account 🙂
You’ll be absolutely fine for a long time to come. I’m going to install it on my 2GiB RAM Core2Duo. Ubuntu Linux has slightly lower requirements to Windows 7, & I can’t imagine the Steam bit of Steam OS being much trouble.
Having said that, NVidia is usually better supported on Linux. Valve will probably be working to even it out as we type.
You can run Tux Racer and Lbreakout and Kbreaout and Gbreakout withthou any issues even with a P3 and Geforce2 videocard and 128 MB RAM for what that matters.
So my big question is, what refinements has Nvidia made to SteamOS? Nvidia was working with Valve on this project. Will SteamOS run games better than say Fedora+Steam+Nvidia_blob? Can’t wait to get my hands on a steam box.
No reason to be any different. They have the best drivers anyway: http://is.gd/ykCy7X
Former Nvidia (and Microsoft for that matter) devs are working on SteamOS but I haven’t heard that Nvidia is doing so. AFAIK they’re just working on their linux driver, and now openly communicating with the SteamOS devs. As far as contributing to SteamOS though, that’s news to me if it’s true.
When Steam OS was first announced it seemed like it would be an Ubuntu-based distro. Given that Valve is now warning that the first release will be for hackers-only, it sounds like they’ve instead built a new Linux distro tailored for gaming performance. Given the low-overhead of distros like Debian, it may have been wiser to go with an existing ditro as a base instead. Nonetheless I’m looking forward to the first Steam OS beta!
Valve reveals that Steam OS is Debian-based after all, with 3rd party drivers and an upstream kernel (plus other goodies.) Excellent choice! Shows that they want a gaming-focused distro without wanting to spend too many resources on maintaining the distro.
I’ve already got it installed! It’s Debian 7 with a repository added!