pezus said:
Their point. Gaming PCs haven't been this targeted at the average consumer before, and they've been too complicated. The point of the Steam Machines is to streamline PC gaming and make it more casual friendly. |
This. Linux has already come to a point where it can be easier than Windows, surely it is for users that aren't system administrators, but also installing it is easy, the only mildly complex thing is deciding a better partitioning than the default one and, in my config, having to manually copy a firmware file for the scanner, due to a licensing conflict preventing some Linux distros from doing it automatically, but even in this case, it's just one file copy, not much different from having to install the drivers from a CD or from the net on Windows. And having done this, Linux standard scanning tools are as easy as Windows ones, but more powerful, if one desires finer options. Printer installation, OTOH, was quicker and easier on Linux than on Windows.
Now SteamBoxes can fill the segment where Linux is still weak, gaming, and streamline what's still complicated for the most casual users, while providing a common platform that like consoles has HW and SW upgrades depending on the interests of gamers and HW and games producers (including Valve itself, obviously), without the interference of an OS producer pushing for major OS upgrades just to sell a new version of the OS itself even when nobody else needs or want it. Obviously the interest of Valve will be strong in this matter, but it won't contain that added factor that in Windows can be totally independent, and even against, the interests of users and HW and SW 3rd parties, Valve won't push a major SteamOS upgrade to sell the upgrade itself, and without this interest, that in Windows can be economically overwhelming, Valve will have a far bigger interest in seeking an agreement on major upgrades with users and business partners.
Personally I'm waiting for minimum, average and recommended SteamBox specs, and I'll keep them in mind, together with XBOne and PS4 ones, when I'll build my next low-cost PC, that will surely be at least Linux-Windows dual-boot, but most probably this time it will also have SteamOS as third option, with the strong hope that Windows, from main PC gaming platform, gradually become a legacy one.
