Valve OS

robfosters · 26 Nov 2013 at 21:38

Can anyone point me to some good info please about the new Valve OS that is rumoured. I want to see what it will apparently offer the gamer over windows.

Thanks

ZombieFan · 26 Nov 2013 at 21:43

Google "valve OS". First result. Done.

robfosters · 26 Nov 2013 at 21:51

Found a bit of info, but not enough for me. I'll just wait till it's released to see what people make of it. Dont think it will come close to windows though.

What about my MS Office, Betting exchange bots, Cubase DAW. Not enough info as to what it will run.

ZombieFan · 26 Nov 2013 at 22:02

I think it's going to be more like a console OS for the livingroom. So you will have your classic console functions available - photos, videos, web browsing and of course games - and also geared towards controlling it via the new Steam Controller. I don't think it's targetted as a replacement for Windows for your desktop PC.

Macro · 26 Nov 2013 at 22:16

It seems to be a gaming OS that locks you into a single supplier for your games and then allows you to play fewer games by an order of magnitude than a general purpose OS that allows you to do all the other stuff as well. Nice work Valve, just how gullible do you think your customer are exactly?

mortals · 26 Nov 2013 at 22:40

Not sure valve have actually given much info around it.
It seems to be a distribution of linux with a optimized kernel for gaming (and streaming).
The most info is probably on the steamos page

http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/SteamOS/

There are announcements on the Steam Universe community group regarding testing etc and some discussion on ideas etc

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse

It sounds like the OS will boot into big picture mode of the linux client (which is already available) allowing you to power on the system and game like a console.
They haven't really said much about whether it will include a usable desktop or anything, so it might be locked to big picture mode only.

A lot of people already run steam on linux so would guess this 'steamos' will have components from the current steam linux client.

edit:
there is also a massive thread on these forums from when steam announced steamos:
Steam reveal

RumbleBee · 26 Nov 2013 at 22:45

yeah all seems very quiet on the Steam OS front. Heard some rumors about the Hardware side of things, but absolutely nothing on the software side.

Personally I'm looking forward to it. Not expecting it to replace Windows in anyway soon, but Valve always seem to play the long game so will be interesting times ahead.

I'll definitely be trying out one way or another, but more than likely on my current hardware.

Main present Christmas 2014 = SteamBox please.

Puzzled · 27 Nov 2013 at 00:29

I was looking forward to the streaming side of it but got bored of waiting so tried a wireless HDMI sender which works perfectly.

I've got the HP wireless TV kit which can send full HD (and 3D) wireless with no delay, already had a wireless 360 controller/receiver to use with it and now enjoy games on the big TV in the lounge via Steam Big Picture.

Tbh I don't know what else Steam OS has to offer me really as it was the streaming aspect that interested me. I am looking forward to trying their new controller though!

bignev72 · 27 Nov 2013 at 10:35

Macro said:
It seems to be a gaming OS that locks you into a single supplier for your games and then allows you to play fewer games by an order of magnitude than a general purpose OS that allows you to do all the other stuff as well. Nice work Valve, just how gullible do you think your customer are exactly?

You're not looking forward to it then?

no_1_dave · 27 Nov 2013 at 10:57

From what I understand it is just Steam big picture mode running on linux.
Not a fully fledged OS that you'd want on your main PC

Warbie · 27 Nov 2013 at 10:57

MonkeyMan said:
I was looking forward to the streaming side of it but got bored of waiting so tried a wireless HDMI sender which works perfectly.

I've got the HP wireless TV kit which can send full HD (and 3D) wireless with no delay, already had a wireless 360 controller/receiver to use with it and now enjoy games on the big TV in the lounge via Steam Big Picture.

Tbh I don't know what else Steam OS has to offer me really as it was the streaming aspect that interested me. I am looking forward to trying their new controller though!

Hey MonkeyMan. Could you give me a link to the kit you're using for that? I'd be very interested in giving it a go.

//my bad - didn't read your post fully. I've read the HP kit only works with line of sight - is that true for you?
Is the 360 receiver you're using the standard one?

Cheers

Mockingbird · 27 Nov 2013 at 11:25

Macro said:
It seems to be a gaming OS that locks you into a single supplier for your games and then allows you to play fewer games by an order of magnitude than a general purpose OS that allows you to do all the other stuff as well. Nice work Valve, just how gullible do you think your customer are exactly?

It's a free OS. It costs nothing to try, you can dual-boot it with your current OS if you want. How much butthurt did you manage to cram into that post of yours? It's clearly not designed or marketed as the only OS to use on your main PC.

I'm mostly looking forward to the streaming aspect TBH. Should be fun.

If using an HDMI extender, how do you control the game?

Witcher1979 · 27 Nov 2013 at 11:29

If it is based on Linux then you will be able to mod it and make it a normal linux distro so you should really be able to use it for everyday needs or whatever you want it to do I should think. Only reason people don't use Linux is gaming so this could change things a lot and I hope it does tbh.

Woden · 27 Nov 2013 at 11:32

Witcher1979 said:
If it is based on Linux then you will be able to mod it and make it a normal linux distro so you should really be able to use it for everyday needs or whatever you want it to do I should think. Only reason people don't use Linux is gaming so this could change things a lot and I hope it does tbh.

Would be silly too though, there is a Steam client for Linux already. It would be easier to start with a desktop distro and mod it towards SteamOS-alike. Gentoo or Arch would be ideal.

Witcher1979 · 27 Nov 2013 at 11:34

Woden said:
Would be silly too though, there is a Steam client for Linux already. It would be easier to start with a desktop distro and mod it towards SteamOS-alike. Gentoo or Arch would be ideal.

The world is your oyster with it so yeah you could just do that, or mod the OS so only the apps you want are on the OS. Beauty with Linux is you can do what you want.

mortals · 27 Nov 2013 at 11:44

here is some more info

Anyone who uses Steam's Big Picture Mode is already intimately acquainted with SteamOS, as they're very similar.
SteamOS looks and acts like Big Picture Mode, except it's the basis for the entire hardware system. It's controller-friendly and easy to navigate.
The same Steam splash page washes across the screen when it launches, and the same tile-based layout of games and the Steam store are visible at launch.
As promised, the OS is built on Linux (not based on Ubuntu, we're told, but entirely custom), though you'd never know it as the only interactive layer is all Steam.

Looks like the early steambox prototype(s) has an i7 with a GTX 780 :eek:

Some high-res images of a prototype machine can be seen here:
http://www.taringa.net/posts/noticias/17294536/Conoce-uno-de-los-prototipos-de-Steam-Machines.html

Macro · 27 Nov 2013 at 12:15

bignev72 said:
You're not looking forward to it then?

I actually love the idea of something new and interesting to shake up the market, I just struggle to work out how this fits in anywhere other than Gabes cunning plan to turn the PC gaming market into a Steam/Valve dominated thing. Why would I use SteamOS when it requires the same spec PC as Windows (or Mac OSX/Linux), locks me into Steam, does less and plays fewer games... I just don't get it

Puzzled · 27 Nov 2013 at 12:15

Warbie said:
Hey MonkeyMan. Could you give me a link to the kit you're using for that? I'd be very interested in giving it a go.

//my bad - didn't read your post fully. I've read the HP kit only works with line of sight - is that true for you?
Is the 360 receiver you're using the standard one?

Cheers

I got mine off ebay but this is the one I have:
http://www.laptopmag.com/review/wifi/hp-wireless-tv-connect-2012.aspx

Note that it is the second generation model with the smaller transmitter.

Doesn't need line of sight I have my main gaming rig in the room next door to the living room (5-6m away) and it can stream games in 3D with no noticeable lag. The computer just sees it as another monitor all the streaming is done via the hardware.

Only negative is that it does run very hot so I wouldn't leave the receiver on when its not in use.

I'm using the official MS 360 receiver for the PC, bought it a few years ago but I'm sure they are still around however I don't like using a mouse/KB in the living room so if Valve release a controller with finer control it will be on my "to buy" list.

One benefit Steam OS could bring about is an easier installation process, at the moment Big Picture only works after the game is installed otherwise it just kicks you back out to desktop and requires kb/mouse.

Macro · 27 Nov 2013 at 12:19

Mockingbird said:
It's a free OS. It costs nothing to try, you can dual-boot it with your current OS if you want. How much butthurt did you manage to cram into that post of yours? It's clearly not designed or marketed as the only OS to use on your main PC.

I'm mostly looking forward to the streaming aspect TBH. Should be fun.

If using an HDMI extender, how do you control the game?

Wow, Gabes lovechild much, did I call your baby ugly or something? :rolleyes:

Why would I dual boot a PC into an OS that locks me into Steam, plays fewer games, does less and then forces to play Windows games from a Second gaming PC by streaming? Where does this make any kind of sense? I'd love to see something new but really struggle to see where this delivers anything other than to Valve.

Do you really think Valve are spending millions to give you something for free just because they're good guys?

mortals · 27 Nov 2013 at 12:26

I agree with a few comments

Don't think I'll have steamos on my main system.
Still see it as a good thing in terms of bringing more cross platform development and possible improvements/optimizations to the linux kernel.

I run Archlinux as my main desktop os and use the steam linux client so there wouldn't really be any advantage in me booting steamos.

If it brings more native games to linux, will be a step closer to being able to drop dual-boot with windows.