Can someone explain the purpose of the Steam Machine to me?

[Distant Star]

jlmurph2 said:

Distant Star said:
It's a shift from Windows desktops to Linux desktops AND moving into the living room.
SteamOS is basically more optimized for gaming than Windows, but still less optimized then PS4 and Xbox One.

Does Linux support everything that people have for Windows(Office, Norton, ect.)? Because I imagine that would be a big factor in buying a PC.

No, not everything. However those apps are shifting to the cloud. Photoshop, office all those apps are moving to the cloud. Using native apps is 'old world thinking' especially for those tasks. So you basically need a browser,  Linux has multiple choices for that. So, it's not a big factor anymore. Desktop sales are partly declining, because of that.