Good thing is you don't need powerful specs to run SteamOS. It's nowhere near as power hungry of an OS like Windows. That's why SteamOS devices are generally a lot cheaper, whereas Windows handhelds cost at least a couple hundred dollars more, and yet SteamOS devices get better gaming performance than Windows devices. Otherwise, Steam Deck would've been DOA at launch lol. Something MS is trying to work on with the ROG Ally X though.

You're not limited to SteamOS. They threw in this little tidbit in their Steam page.

They threw the same thing for the Steam Deck :) It is a PC, but it does not run Windows, and drivers are subpart (esp. with those specs). That's the main issue.
Steam Deck is successful because of the UI and how easy it is to launch Steam games ON THE GO. I installed Windows on my Steam Deck, and removed it right away because it's just not at all practical.

But here we are talking about targeting the living room or your desk; this is a completely different story... Of course, this will be successful (I do not think anyone expects it to be DOA), but I can predict that, like the Steam Deck, it will only get a marginal market share.

Also, why would anyone chose this over a Play Station 5/6 for instance (let's pretend that the next Xbox is not an option or that this will compete with it).
The specs are really not going to be on par with the next gen consoles/PC-Hybrid. So other than the price (maybe) there is really no reason to get that thing over a Play Station for instance

I mean; I will buy it :) But only because I'm buying basically every new device coming out from any company :D 

That GPU is not going to cut it. While the Steam Deck works because its a portable and the demand for it running the display that it has is small, this device with its 8GB at this point in time just not going to really push performance for AAA games. Why would I get this when I can get a PS5 at 400 bones. So the this box needs to be cheaper than the PS5 and if not than it will sell at a niche market which is fine but no real competition to moving any of the players to care about it.

Yeah, I feel like Valve jumped the gun a bit with this one, needed more time in the oven to cook. Xbox's next gen PC-console hybrids that the new Steam Machine will be competing with are supposedly not coming until Holiday 2027 at the earliest, possibly even Holiday 2028, so I have no idea why they are rushing out Steam Machine in Q1 2026, well over a year before Xbox's competition arrives. An extra year and they could have bumped it up from Zen 4 and RDNA 3 to Zen 5 and RDNA 4,which would have brought it closer to Xbox's next gen offering which supposedly has Zen 6 and RDNA 5. The small size is impressive, half the height of Series X about, in a similar footprint, but it seems to be weaker than PS5 and Series X. 8 GB of VRAM is already starting to be not enough for AAA gaming, and the the same goes for 16 GB of system RAM, and those RAM issues are only going to get worse with each passing year as we move towards the launch of the next gen Xbox and PS6. This thing needs to come it at like $450 at most for the smaller SSD model and $550 at most for the 2 TB, or else it's not even good as a budget offering for recent AAA's, let alone future AAA's. 

Looking good! I had zero expectations with season one and I thought it was great. 

I'm not sure why anyone is trying to envision bringing the Steam Machine to next-gen level performance. That's not Valve's goal.

One potential benefit to get more bang for your buck from this is the rumor that AMD is planning on releasing FS4 on RDNA 3 sometime early next year. Could coincide with the launch of the Steam Machine. Something that would greatly benefit the device in the long run.

Currently, it's just a complimentary device for those that are already in the Steam ecosystem. Same way the Steam Deck was. Which was also an affordable PC.

Hmm more big news coming?

Ubisoft just postponed its earnings report and halted the trading of its shares.
Unclear why at this point but could indicate a major announcement related to the company.

source: 诸葛亮

I agree that this isnt trying to compete with next gen, its trying to compete with todays gen and its already looking weak to the competition or just par.  The absolute biggest issue will be price.  For anyone looking for a desktop option, their expectations are going to way higher than a mobile device.  The SteamDeck was a great entry device for valve but I am not so sure about this device. Well, until we get a price for this, its really hard to predict where it will land but at least in my opinion, it needs to be right there with the PS5 price and definitely not at PS5 pro price.

Next week spongebob and Outlaws remastered + Black friday deals. I probably will pass 250 games bought this year. Peanuts compared to Barozi tho.