Sounds basically pointless. I guess it will make the PCs cheaper by removing the cost of a Windows license, but other than that, without a set standard it is going to have the same issues that you would expect from PC gaming

I also don't think that most games will work on it, they have said a couple of hundred will work, but the rest will have to be streamed from a proper PC, so it will work best as a companion to an actual gaming PC. I'll take a console instead

If this were any other company than Valve, this would be immediately shot down as nonsense, I don't really see this going anywhere

This is a bold (desperated??) move from Valve to save PC gaming.

They will change so the things stays the same. Many hardware configuations, yearly upgrades, customisation...

Sorry, I can´t see a game changer. Not in the big market, not in mass production and advertising. May be if NVidia joins in. Or Samsung or LG.

I'm not sure yet but I think Valve wants to get out of MS hands with Windows/DirectX.

Right, but the figure is currently in the hundreds, I don't have a huge amount of faith in every game I want running through this.

Sure the PC is designed for gaming, but why not pay a bit extra and get one that can do everything. I would much rather the more open solution of Windows (assuming they don't remove the desktop in Windows 9) where I can fiddle with what I want, rather than rely on things designed for Steam OS

No, I´m not.

If the PC market is OK, and with growing perspective in sight, why the hell Valve is trying this?

Why Microsoft has the Xbox and Surface in the first place?  PC gaming is a nicht market, for enthusiasts. 

I´m speaking for me: this year is the last year a will use PC other than working (and may be porn). I will finish the last 10 games I bought at Steam Store. And I won´t ever buy a game that I could not play right away. 

Microsoft or Sony will have to screw up really bad in pricing and services for me to quite the convenience of a console + a tablet.

I want freedom, but not Linux freedom. i very much like the way Windows works and I have literally no complaints. I don't even hate the evil Windows 8, it works great playing Netflix on one of my screens while playing Rome II on the other.

if I hadn't already spent $1000 on a PC, id get one of these baby's when they come out. been waiting for some sort of valve hardware for ages

Much ado about nothing...

The OS is free, but Valve makes money from having more steam users (as long as they buy games).

I'm surprised that so many believed that Valve would launch "A" or "THE" SteamBox Machine. They are a software Co., it didn't made sense for them to become a hardware maker.

For me, the thing that may become more problematic with their plan is GPU drivers. Sure, that's AMD and Nvidia's job and I'm sure they will take care of it, and sure PC gamers are used to upgrade the drivers, but if Valve really wants to introduce the mass market to PC gaming they need to find a way to solve the drivers upgrades easily.

So far Steam gives you the option to check and download new drivers from AMD. I tried it once, it was a disaster.