SteamOS is Officially Available to Download

[Tom Bombadildo]

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SteamOS, Valve's Linux-based OS, was recently released today for download. According to Valve, version 1.0 (called Alchemist) is built off from Debian 7.1. You can grab it from here, with Installation Instructions and info here.

SteamOS is meant to free Steam's game library from the desktop, extending Valve's domain to the living room with a superior couch-based PC experience and some of the features that have become standard on consoles, such as media streaming services. For Valve, it's also about declaring freedom from Microsoft—SteamOS will only run games with Linux support (of which we expect to see many more in the coming year). That bold statement is tempered by the ability to stream games from a Windows PC to SteamOS over a local area network, though how much it's tempered will depend on how well streaming works.

News Source



EDIT: Do note that the current download site is featuring some failures, but the folks at SteamDB have provided an "unofficial" torrent file which is available here


EDIT2: You should also note that AMD and Intel Graphics cards ARE NOT currently supported, Valve is working to fix this as soon as possible. Again, ONLY NVIDIA GPUs are supported.

 

[ShadowSoldier]

nvidiamasterrace!

heard it here first folks.

 

[Kouen Hasuki]

Well once AMD GPU support is fixed I'll take a look that said I could pop a spare HDD into my nvidia GPU laptop....

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Sucks for me, as my GTX 650 is out being RMA'd by MSI and my Laptop has an A10 APU in it ._. Ah well, can't wait to try it out once they fix AMD support

 

[rcazador]

Lolwut. linux only, nVidia only. Trolol.
What about the thousands of windows only games already on market? Why would I stream it if I had a windows pc in LAN?

 

[Gahars]

"Gotta get Nvidia if you want to get 'n-vidya!"

Bam, there's a tagline for you, on the house and everything.

Anyway, I'm sure this is great news for the 5 grognards out there just dying to install the OS before it gets any actual support.

 

[trumpet-205]

I'm surprised that Intel isn't supported, since Intel open source their Linux driver.

 

[Sicklyboy]

nvidia master race :o

Gonna try this, but I'm kinda busy... Dragon Warrior, fixing my iHAS 424... fbgm

 

[CrimzonEyed]

Or use ubuntu/mint to have support for all three graphic cards.
And to get steamos UI:

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:thor27-gmail/steam-desktop
$ sudo apt-get update 
$ sudo apt-get install steam-login

Logout and change desktop environment to steam.

 

[shakirmoledina]

let me go overboard and ask, why would I install this if my windows is working perfectly fine?

its a question not opposition

 

[Duo8]

let me go overboard and ask, why would I install this if my windows is working perfectly fine?

its a question not opposition

No reason really

-----------------------------
Some people got AMD GPUs working. There's already a driver for it, but there's a bug breaking AMD GPUs.

 

[Rabbi Nevins]

let me go overboard and ask, why would I install this if my windows is working perfectly fine?

its a question not opposition

No huge reasons but in the long run I would say steamOS will be FAR more stable and reliable than a windows machine. An OS specifically designed for gaming, and built on the most stable operating system out there will result in a very nice experience.

I dont think valve really intended for many people to be using steam OS over windows, its more just them being generous and releasing their source for the OS that will be used on their console. However if youre exclusively a linux user, as I am, its a very convenient OS option to have. If youre only used to windows I would say it will be more trouble than its worth.

 

[Taleweaver]

Wow...this is pretty soon. I thought it would be until 2014 until we saw the first steamOS beta's. But it's fine with me. I'll certainly check it out in the upcoming days.


EDIT: damnit. Only now learned that aside from the nvidia graphic card (which I have), you'll also need UEFI boot support. And my test-pc has every requirement but that one. I guess I'll have to miss out on this for now...

 

[Satangel]

Can't wait for some articles on using this on a dedicated PC you can build yourself. Looks nice and all, but atm it's just useless to me.

 

[ResleyZ]

Wanted to try this on a virtual machine, but that doesn't seem possible. Steam's Big Picture is working fine enough for my PC, so no reason to fully wipe the hdd and install everything again.

 

[Qtis]

Interesting, but as I don't really have a gaming PC, I'll just wait this out. Sure I could install it on my MBP, but I prefer to keep this as much a work computer as possible.

 

[lismati]

Oh, Steam OS beta? Lemme try it, I'm so ready to download.

*wipes everything on your drive*

No, thanks, steam. I won't spend 96 hours redownloading my library again..

 

[TyBlood13]

Well if only I didn't have shitty integrated Intel graphics on my laptop

 

[xxNathanxx]

stuff

Yo why do you have so many DEs

 

[Mario92]

People remember that SteamOS is OS that you put to PC connected to TV and use with controller and not something you install on desktop. Valve still recommends using Ubuntu if choosing Linux OS for gaming.