Alienware Swaps SteamOS For Windows 173
An anonymous reader writes "Valve left many OEMs hanging when they delayed Steam machines until sometime next year to work out their controller issues. Many of these companies excitedly showed off new Steam machine hardware that they cannot ship, so Alienware has been the first to re-purpose its Debian-based Steam machine to be a Windows-based Steam machine bundled with an Xbox controller. While Windows 8.x has not been particularly well-received it does support a lot more games than Linux and when configured to boot straight into Steam Big Picture mode the influence of the underlying OS is visible only in the larger game library."
Linux didn't made much sense for the consumer anyw (Score:3, Interesting)
Linux didn't made much sense for the consumer anyway.
This must be somewhat disturbing for Valve. Then again I doubt many individuals was asking for a Steam specific OS.
Disturbing because if it all released at the same time then at least they'd have some hype now you'll just have small gaming PCs where you either get Windows and kinda all games or the Steam one which only run a small part of all the titles.
Yay! Which one are you going to pick? ... Oh and the Windows one run the software you're used too as well.
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This is gonna hurt.
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I expect that it's going to be nearly impossible for Valve/Steam to succeed with the mainstream with this development.
Considering that it is still locking in the Steam service for all games, this is still a win for Valve.
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IMHO I think and have always thought the reason for Valve doing it in the first place is that they are scared about all the vendor specific stores which is poping up (of which they are one and one of the bigger ones but there could exist an even bigger more obvious choice) - As iTunes store, Google Play, whatever Microsoft calls their / Live.
_If_ Microsoft made a successful game delivery platform / sold all software signed through their own store Valve would have much less left.
If they rolled and had their
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_If_ Microsoft made a successful game delivery platform / sold all software signed through their own store Valve would have much less left.
Is this supposed to be a dig at the Xbox One's underperforming sales figures?
Sideloading other Linux games (Score:2)
Considering that it is still locking in the Steam service for all games
I'd like to see a source stating that Steam OS users can't sideload other Linux-compatible games.
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I'd like to see a source stating that Steam OS users can't sideload other Linux-compatible games.
First of all, this isn't SteamOS we are talking about, it is Windows. Secondly, I'm not suggesting that you can't load non-Steam games. But you won't be able to do it sitting on your couch holding your controller. Buying and playing Steam games on a Steam box will be much, much easier.
There are enough people on Windows computers who refuse to buy games that they can't load from the Steam client (and complain bitterly when games are offered on other services). Just imagine how receptive buyers of something c
Keysticks or Lenovo N5902A (Score:2)
First of all, this isn't SteamOS we are talking about, it is Windows.
Which, unless it's Windows RT, will always allow sideloading from GOG.
Secondly, I'm not suggesting that you can't load non-Steam games. But you won't be able to do it sitting on your couch holding your controller.
The first step is to make a list of XInput-friendly games on GOG [gog.com]. The second is to add something like JoyToKey or Keysticks that adds DirectInput or XInput navigation to all programs on Windows, or perhaps even a specialized web browser that implements something like what Microsoft has done usably in Internet Explorer for Xbox 360. Barring that, use something like the Lenovo N5902A Bluetooth keyboard with built-in trackball.
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Yea I agree, it's also losing all of its publicity momentum. I do wonder if steamOS will be a success, as I'm not particularly convinced about it.
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Losing its steam, one might say. ;-)
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Come to think of it, we haven't heard much from Sega lately, have we?
Customers that become loyal often will stay loyal if the company continues to produce. When that company stops producing things that the customer wants, they jump ship. If the company never really gets anything off the
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People don't have memories. Nobody cares about Sony's past, or Microsoft's, etc.
It's not that they don't have memories, it's exactly as you pointed out: Nobody cares. Relatively how many Sony customers do you think cared that they removed the OtherOS option from the PS3? Relatively how many Microsoft customers do you think cared that IE was the default browser on Windows or that they added proprietary extensions to Java?
You might care about those things and you might think that other people should care about those things but in reality they don't and outside of some extrapolated "but
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There are no alternatives to using tech from scummy companies
Technically there is an alternative [wikipedia.org], but I don't see a lot of Slashdotters being willing to join the Amish.
Re:Linux didn't made much sense for the consumer a (Score:4, Insightful)
I bet if microsoft goes all in on the Windows store and locks you into only stuff bought from the windows store then the Steam box would have a much better chance. But it seems almost impossible that MS is going to actually go that route at this point. I could be unpleasantly surprised though, but now that Ballmer is gone that seems unlikely.
As long as you can use Steam for windows... and buy games through steam on Windows Linux gaming is basically for ideological purists, for people who represent the 85% of the market or so that use windows, or the 12% that use Mac Steam works so why change? They'd need a really compelling offering.
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Yeah, the support for windows games really needed to be better than, "and you can stream them from a windows machine that you also own"
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Linux and Unix is a Mainframe OS.
Unix then Linux which is based of the Unix design. Is from the old Mainframe days. Where it was used for multiple terminals connected a single Mainframe or server, where people did their work.
Linux came out when the standard PC got to 32bits (80386 era) and was powerful enough to support the workload of many of the lower/mid range mainframes. Originally so people could access and tinker with a Unix Like OS without having to spend big bucks to try it out, or get access to a
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UNIX isn't a 'mainframe' OS.
Linux came out when x86 got a BETTER MMU, it wasn't the first UNIX like clone on the x86 platform.
Linux may be a crappy desktop OS, but for a long time there were far more UNIX desktop workstations than there were Windows. Ask SGI, Sun, DEC and a few others.
Linux is not UNIX, OSX is a certified UNIX with far more desktop installs than Linux.
NT based workstations started with the original NT release. That was the point, not servers. NT Advanced Server came second. NT4 came with
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A lot of people were speculating that the whole SteamOS thing was just a stunt by Valve to discourage MS from launching their own service to compete with Steam on Windows (an implicit threat that they would launch a competitor to Windows for gaming). And it does seem like Valve are pretty lukewarm on SteamOS themselves, a pretty strange position for a company that's supposedly serious about making such a bold move.
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A lot of people were speculating that the whole SteamOS thing was just a stunt by Valve to discourage MS from launching their own service to compete with Steam on Windows
Microsoft did end up launching such a service, called Windows Store. Its games support only keyboards, mice, and Xbox 360 controllers, not non-Xbox 360 joysticks.
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No?
The user obviously notice what software they can run.
What make Android successful against the competition? The same thing which make Windows popular. Software compatibility.
Linux doesn't have it when it comes to all the games on Steam.
Windows 8 can be unfcuked (Score:2)
From a consumer perspective, a brand new Windows 8 computer/tablet may or may not run your software
Windows 8.1, Windows 7, and Windows Vista run the same applications, and they run most applications from the Windows XP era as well. Install DOSBox and you get most of your DOS apps back. What incompatibility are you talking about, other than Windows RT which is on its way out anyway or perhaps Windows 3.1 apps?
and requires learning a completely new, obscure user interface
If you're coming from Windows 95 or later, here's most of the learning you'll need: Click the desktop tile, open IE, go to ClassicShell.net, download, install.
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Oh it's not the worst ever. Consider Microsoft Bob...
Hey now, don't you go insulting Microsoft Bob that way; its interface made sense! Each room was a logical collection of programs, customizable with objects you could add that represented applications. It was customizable, the groupings were logically connected (rooms in a house are an easy-to-grasp metaphor), the theme of the room corresponded to the type of applications present (parlor, office, etc.), and once launched the applications ran as normal.
Plus there was that adorable dog!
The only problem with
It's a Windows system. I know this (Score:2)
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I recall that scene being widely made fun of following the film's release, in part because of that very interface.
There's a shock move... (Score:3)
Getting the controller right is, for Valve, a big deal; because just cloning the xbox controller won't do much for PC oriented titles; but keyboard/mouse combos are not exactly good couch company (also some bad history there... [wikipedia.org]), so they need something clever.
For the OEMs, the bet is markedly smaller. It's not as though you can easily buy linux-only hardware, and 'quiet', 'small and unobtrusive', and 'reasonably powerful' are virtues you can sell under any OS.
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Given that consoles get the brutally efficient cost-optimization, as well as tending to score the occasional exclusive or exclusivity window on Sequel Shooter: Franchise of Halo: Warfighter 20XX, it's hard to make a terribly compelling case for building a PC to do the same job for more money, unless console graphical limitations really bug you.
So, whi
Good Luck Gamepad Users (Score:2)
Us keyboard and mouse jockeys will enjoy spanking you in multiplayer twitch games.
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The mouse is decent for aiming though. But the keyboard is far from optimal.
I've been saying that for YEARS, but the Slashdot gamers who think WASD is the be-all of movement control drown me out, or they mistake my dislike of keyboard control with dislike of mice.
Personally given a choice I prefer d-pad/analog stick for movement, and mouse for aiming. First did that on Quake II for the PSone. A few games on the PS2 also support it, Deus Ex and Half-Life in particular. And a few games on the PS3 also support it.
As expected (Score:1)
This was pretty much as expected.
All of Valve's marketing of the steam boxes focuses on Steam as a brand, and for the average player the expectation for that is playing all the latest games and big franchises. However, under a Linux-based SteamOS, you are limited to indie games and a very occasional AAA release by Valve or some more-or-less independent studio they convinced. That means no Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed, GTA, etc.
Even worse, the narrative and marketing has been intentionally misleading, with
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FYI: As of yesterday, Civ V now runs on SteamOS. Supposedly all the DLC is supposed to too, but they're still working on that. And it is one of the play-anywhere type games, so if you own a copy, you can play on windows, mac, or Linux, no need to buy a new copy for the other OS. I'll be getting my dual boot running today to try it out.
Civ: Beyond Earth has been officially "Win, Mac, and SteamOS" for a while now. I'm guessing it and Civ V use the same base underlying engine, or at least close enough to make
Dell probably had hardware production started (Score:2)
Valve has no one to blame but themselves (Score:2)
Valve just didn't deliver. I wanted to give SteamOS a try, but they don't even provide a disk image. Instead, it's a zipped folder with files to be copied to an USB drive. I still couldn't figure a way to make it an iso or something that VirtualBox will accept. Other than that, just reading the installation page, the whole thing still seems to be very crude. I thought it'd be interesting to see a major game developer pushing for Linux, but if I were to use Linux, why would I go with SteamOS instead of any o
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It would actually be easier to install a full non-SteamOS Linux distro (Ubuntu or Fedora) and THEN install Steam on top of that.
On Fedora, just install the Fedora People repository and then yum install steam
Valve's just incompetent...no really, they're incompetent. Especially compared to console developers, who work harder and can finish projects without resorting to "Blizzard/Valve" time.
Use linux to get less freedom? (Score:2)
The most tragic thing in all of this is the whole concept of getting linux games from a single source, with DRM. No self-published games, no other non Steam publishers, no freeware, no shareware : that's all for Windows, with few exceptions. Maybe they'll be other stores eventually (like GOG) but for now, you rely on Steam to reliably run native games under linux (if you have suitable graphics hardware and drivers).
Well, at least I can play Counterstrike 1.6 on linux. That's all I use it for - it's reliable
The real test of "Steam Box" openness... (Score:2)
Less freedom than what? An XBox, Playstation or Wii with locked-down hardware, that probably aren't ever going to support alternative software or game stores without jailbreaking? And good luck building a homebrew XBox or Playstation using your choice of components.
Steam seems to be the least worst of the game platforms.
The real test of a SteamBox is whether you can quit Steam, access the underlying OS and install other software. AFAIK that is eminently possible under SteamOS - whether Steam Boxes wil
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Less freedom than what? An XBox, Playstation or Wii with locked-down hardware, that probably aren't ever going to support alternative software or game stores without jailbreaking? And good luck building a homebrew XBox or Playstation using your choice of components.
That may matter to you, but it doesn't to everyone else. To most people it's the "games" that matter, not whether they can jailbreak their console to run Tuxcart.
It would be nice if that underlying OS was Linux, but it sounds as if Valve has dropped the ball.
The PS4 is available right now, and runs BSD. No, you can't reach the BSD underpinnings and install nethack...but very few people give a damn about that and I'm saying that as someone who DID install nethack on a PS2 and PS3.
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To most people it's the "games" that matter, not whether they can jailbreak their console to run Tuxcart.
That depends. You have to choose your platform around the "games" you desire to play. If SuperTuxKart is one of them,* you should choose something that can run SuperTuxKart, which at the moment is slanted toward PC. If it's JRPGs, you might end up on PlayStation.
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In other words, if you can get at the kernel, get root, you've just made SteamBox great with cheaters.
Yes, cheaters.
Because if you have access to root, you can load kernel modules, and if you can do that, rootkitting your SteamBox to isolate VAC from your cheats becomes a tri
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As far as I understand, Valve says you can install from other sources. Also, not all Steam games have DRM. Quite a few actually don't have any protection at all [wikia.com]. Steam is primarily a distribution service. It's the game developers who demand the DRM.
high end steam machines will probably be windows (Score:2)
Really, the only reason (for now) to have steam machines using Linux for the OEMs is to reduce the price. So the high-end steam machines are probably going to come with windows anyway. At least for now the low-end is where the Linux will be and it will stay there until more games (especially the more demanding, tripple-A games) support Linux.
In other news, anyone knows if these alienware machines are coming with steam and boot straight into big picture? The default settings is pretty important you know.
If this were really about pleasing the customer (Score:2)
They would have shipped it with windows 7 pro and win 8 pro COA.
Something HUGE happened behind the scenes (Score:2)
Of note is that Alienware is preconfiguring the computer to boot straight to steam. Microsoft has famously resisted OEMs dicking around with the installation for years (ever wonder why nobody sells a windows 8 computer ready to use with all the de-metroing apps pre-installed? From all the 8 hate, you'd think an "easy to use" windows 8 computer that looks like windows 7 would sell like fucking hotcakes)
Something big happened behind the scenes, whatever it was, my guess is that everyone got what they wanted
2014 (Score:2)
The year of the Windows Desktop?
Re:Describe PUSSYING OUT (Score:5, Informative)
Valve delivering on Valve-time (Score:5, Insightful)
Common, it's *Valve* we're speaking about.
They WILL deliver. Except that they will deliver on "Valve Time [valvesoftware.com]".
It will be as usual: wonderful, better than expectation, and *horribly* late.
What were they expecting? Given Valve's track record, they shouldn't have jumped on thing before knowing with certainty that Valve is ready.
They should either.
- start producing steam machine as soon as they can (as they did) but clearly state that these are *prototypes* and probably part of the functionality will be missing.
- or NOT jump on the bandwagon so quickly, and wait until Valve get their shit together (which could be anywhere between now and 2017) and then release a machine with all the features and the specs.
What Alienware did was as stupid as announcing a "special offer with 'Half-Life Episode 3' packaged in for free together with the machine!", and then not knowing what to do as Valve is delayed, packaging some random "Medal of Duty" instead.
Also, SteamOS actually, does work. The problem isn't Linux, the problem are:
- controller (are still tweaked)
- linux games (currently, steam OS works better as a light box to play your game on the living room's big screen/projector by *streaming them* out of a Windows war machine somewhere else in the appartment, rather than playing them directly there. Porting takes time).
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- linux games (currently, steam OS works better as a light box to play your game on the living room's big screen/projector by *streaming them* out of a Windows war machine somewhere else in the appartment, rather than playing them directly there. Porting takes time).
That sucks if you wanted to play games at a desk from your linux machine.
Why not put the Windows machine next to the projector/big screen and stream games to your linux desktop!
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He just said it currently works best that way; given that Windows has been the defacto gaming OS since forever, this should not be a surprise. Change takes time.
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- linux games (currently, steam OS works better as a light box to play your game on the living room's big screen/projector by *streaming them* out of a Windows war machine somewhere else in the appartment, rather than playing them directly there. Porting takes time).
So instead of just simply using Windows and only needing one computer you need 2 computers to stream the games? Are you for real?!?
To be more clear, what GP was saying was that although some games do run natively on Linux, Steam OS achieves maximum utility by streaming games from a Windows machine. That's why it's not already widely in use, because its usefulness is limited by needing another capable machine with Windows (which all current Steam users already have). Once the controller is done and more games are ported, the whole package will make a lot more sense. However, the OS does in fact function and it does the things it's de
Chicken-and-egg problem (Score:2)
So instead of just simply using Windows and only needing one computer you need 2 computers to stream the games?
You have a chicken and egg problem.
- Gamers install Windows instead of Linux because most of the games are sold for Windows.
- Most of the developer make Windows games, because that's what OS the gamers have.
Valve needs an OS do be less dependent on Microsoft. So they develop a Linux version of Steam and create a Linux-based "SteamOS" distribution on which to run it.
Over time, there are going to be games. But right now there aren't much.
Just right now, its one of the best solution that Valve could come up in
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Isn't this up to the customer? If they don't want windows they ask Dell/Alienware to bundle something else. Unlike the cheap computers they sell there is still customization options left for these higher end computers. They have hardware that they want to sell, they can not just shove them into a warehouse for a year, these machines are going to be sold, either with just generic windows or customized in some fashion to appeal to gamers, the steam machine was just a distant idea.
And booting up directly to
Re:Describe PUSSYING OUT (Score:5, Insightful)
Time to blacklist Alienware and NEVER buy a Steam Machine from them.
But surely you had already blacklisted Alienware because they have sold Windows-based computers for many years. And frankly, if you are going to blacklist any company that sells Microsoft-powered computers then you must have very limited range from which to choose.
The alternative to mounting a vendetta against the company is to just to grow up and simply not buy the products that you don't want. Then when the Steam-OS systems finally arrive then you can happily buy it, knowing that you weren't forced at gunpoint to pay any evil Microsoft tax.
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And frankly, if you are going to blacklist any company that sells Microsoft-powered computers then you must have very limited range from which to choose
in all modesty, i do, i've been doing it for years and i'm perfectly fine with what i get. needless to say, i like games a lot, but not at any cost. of course not at the cost of being stick-carroted around by corporations. that just isn't fair game.
if more people did the same we would all benefit from better technology and entertainment. yes, you can! start now! :-)
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So with SteamOS delayed, what was Alienware supposed to do?'
alienware can do as they please. all i'm saying is that i will not buy any m$-infested hardware.
my point being (sorry for repeating myself but i guess it wasn't clear to everybody) that if we all abstained from buying dishonest crap, better alternatives would naturally get a boost. i.e, as weird as it sounds, you can effectively stop crap from invading everything by simply not buying it. :-)
Re:Describe PUSSYING OUT (Score:5, Insightful)
Silly. The company must sell those units or take a loss. If Valve can't give them what they need to sell the units they MUST re-purpose them to sell.
What other OS could they use that would have as good a chance of actually selling? As is, Dell will likely take a loss on this project which means it was a financial and business mistake to do this much with Valve until they were ready.
Dell as you probably are aware is not flush with cash. They've had some very bad financial problems and they are in a very tough business. They cannot afford this crap.
To then blame them for not going down with the ship and taking an even bigger loss simply to spite microsoft is moronnic. It is an opinion morons have... you are therefore a moron.
Good day.
It's Valve we're speaking about (Score:2)
What other OS could they use that would have as good a chance of actually selling?
By the way:
- SteamOS *DOES* work
- XBox controller *DO* work under Linux.
As is, Dell will likely take a loss on this project which means it was a financial and business mistake to do this much with Valve until they were ready.
What the hell where they expecting? It's freaking Valve, with a track record to have completely random concept of "schedule".
Either Alienware should have considered this as a "prototype" (and SteamOS + XBox controler or Logitech or whatever would have been perfectly acceptable. With a paying option to get a Windows License).
Or Alienware should have waited until SteamOS is actually ready.
is moronnic. It is an opinion morons have... you are therefore a moron.
Namecalling is the best way to explain a point.
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As to name calling, I have a very low expectation of anyone admitting fault on the internet since everyone seems to have a lot more ego then integrity. As such, I make my point to "MY" satisfaction and discharge whatever final comments need to be made to equalize the rhetorical crossfire. If people are being rude or absurd then I'm going to respond appropriately.
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Same here, buddy. I feel your pain... really. And its not like I'm the same every single time. I have moments where I'm a dick and I have moments where I'm an "at one with the universe" "peace with everyone" monk of utter humility and brotherly love.
It depends on how I feel at the moment and the topic being discussed matters. You bring baggage from past discussions into new ones especially if its the same topic that keeps coming up again and again.
If you were buried in assholes the last time you entered a d
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To each is own on that one... I just try to have fun with it.
If the discussion is populated almost entirely with jackasses then if so inclined I just wade into them worst case I've amused myself. The whole thing will be more about making myself laugh with creative insults or interesting myself by going off on wild rambling tangents that are more a stream of consciousness for my own thought process then anything to do with fools in the thread.
As they say, unhappy is the man that depends upon the pleasure of
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I used to admit fault on Internet forums because I was under the impression that being humble and admitting that you're wrong would be seen by other posters with respect. But no - people don't appreciate humility on the Internet because it's far more rewarding to "win" arguments
They do, they just tend to be quieter than the others. :)
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>SteamOS + XBox controler or Logitech or whatever would have been perfectly acceptable
Not hardly. If we were talking console games maybe, but by and large PC games are ill-suited to a gamepad. And without Valve's new gamepad, and the expected support from game developers, it would be dead in the water. And Dell doesn't want to deal with disappointed customeres who were over promised on the experience.
Have you ever tried playing a FPS, or pretty much anything else mouse-oriented, with a gamepad? The e
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I have to disagree; I play a large number of my PC Steam games with a controller, and that includes most of the FPS games. I was in a party of 3 playing co-op Borderlands 2 the other day, and asked if anyone was using mouse+kb...nope, we were all using controllers. Mouse+kb is usually more "accurate", but controllers are almost always more "fun", in my experience. In the last couple of years the number of PC titles with excellent controller support has grown by huge leaps and bounds; with new games I don't
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Repurpose them with FreeDOS of course! In the mean time while waiting for SteamOS, users can play Arkanoid or Wolfenstein 3D, just hope they included a PC speaker or buzzer else the PC will remain silent. BIOS emulation will give you USB mouse support.
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If dell had no investment in the product line there would be nothing to repurpose or remarket.
Because there is that means there was... what is more, this is unlikely to be a long term product line since it is redundent with other products they're already selling.
Which means this product line will die out eventually. The only utility to Dell is in sustaining the product line in a fashion that can be repurposed again back into a Steam Machine or to exhaust sunk resources from the build up to what is likely a
Just-in-Time (Score:3)
Please research this "Just-in-Time manufacturing" that the AC mentionned.
Dell [wikipedia.org] has *almost invented* the concept.
Their ARE NOT sitting on a bunch of thousands of useless premanufactured SteamBoxen that they need to get rid of. These box don't exist yet.
They don't even have a huge inventory of parts waiting to be assembled.
At most, what they have is a couple of prototype that they built in-house and that are ready to be replicated, once the orders start pouring in.
The problem isn't the stock.
The problem, as y
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No, they probably haven't gone and produced a bunch of SteamBox PCs already. They probably have, however, invested a great deal of resources into designing new living-room friendly cases and cooling systems, and quite possibly already created the dies, etc needed to produce them.
That probably represents tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars in man-hours and manufacturing hardware already invested in their first-gen Steam Machine designs, which they can only hope to recoup if they actually sell a m
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Their decision is basically to put a Valve designed controller into the box or put in an XBox controller. The rest is just software configuration after which the disks get pre-imaged. Since no Valve controller exists or is likely to exist anytime soon, they choose the XBox controller.
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Low inventories (Score:2)
The premice behind Dell and Co, etc. approach is to have a little inventory are possible. That also means using generic parts that they can swap arround.
They are probably not sitting on 10'000 of unused "Steam Box" cases. Very likely, they have a contact with a chinese manufacturer who can quickly supply them small-form factor cases, that they will use for any small-form-factor machine (HTPC, Consoles, etc.) It's probably a variation of the same small-form-factor box that Dell is using as a "enterprise ligh
Can't completely avoid monopolists (Score:2)
Recouping sunk costs (Score:5, Insightful)
>This is moronic. They could simply have gone with any OS besides Windows. ...
No, *that* is a ridiculous idea. They've invested significantly in man-hours and hardware costs (dies, etc) to be able to produce a living room gaming machine - i.e. high performance, aesthetically pleasing, and probably a lot quieter than a traditional machine with the same specs. Those qualities all come with a premium and don't really lend themselves to anything other than a living room gaming machine. It can't really be repurposed into another niche unless they could sucker people into paying the pretty-and-quiet premiums for a machine where they don't really matter.
So, given that they've done the groundwork to produce a gaming machine, they are limited to an OS that supports gaming. SteamOS is unavailable, and no other Linux can offer the gaming compatibility and support promised by Valve - Dell certainly doesn't want to deal with customers disappointed because the promised ecosystem is not yet available, nor create their own gaming Linux distro which will only be rendered obsolete once SteamOS is finally ready. That leaves Windows as the only realistic option.
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SteamOS would have been a small fraction of the machines Alienware was selling anyway, and there would have been no specialized hardware builds for SteamOS anyway other than using the steam controller (do PC gamers really want console style controller anyway?). In order to have built the steam machines in the first place they would have been redirecting Windows based machines for this purpose.
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Well, not really - they would have been redirecting *resources* that would have gone into Windows PCs, but the specific hardware (pretty cases and quiet cooling systems) would be unlikely to have been designed at all without the SteamBox promise. The guts though - yeah, those were probably just routed from one assembly line to another. But I doubt those represent much of an investment on Dells part: motherboards might be custom designed (maybe), but pretty much everything except the case is of-the-pallet
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I posted that above before I learned that it was actually going to be a console look-alike system rather than a mini tower type of box. But even then I would expect that they had been planning a Windows version anyway, just from the demand that would be there and to get more value from the new designs.
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I doubt it. The guts are mostly all standardized components. Certainly you choose a particular thermal range for your cooling system, but the particular components that fit that thermal range when you begin design will most likely be obsolete by the time you go to market. Instead you just pick the components available at market time that fit within your thermal range and desired price point. Meanwhile the case design is almost completely independent from the components themselves, it only has to concern
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This is moronic. They could simply have gone with any OS besides Windows.
They can't go with Linux because their Steam contract forbids it.
They can't go with OS X because Apple forbids it.
They can't go with Windows because some Anonymous Coward forbids it.
Those three OSes are the only three that run Steam.
So what is this any other OS that runs Steam that isn't one of the only three that runs Steam?
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This is Alienware, ALL of their machines are high end expensive gaming machines. There are no alternative operating systems besides Windows, and they can't repurpose the hardware and make business machines (yes, they're a subsidiary of Dell but their parts chains are not so tightly integrated that they can do that).
They could do just-in-time, but typically they are prebuilt so that they can be shipped at a moment's notice. The just-in-time is there to backfill what is sold. Their machines are mostly iden
Re: (Score:2)
Good morning spelling Hitler! :)
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Alienware is a business, not a fucking charity. They can't pay employee salaries on vague promises from Valve. When and *if* SteamOS is ready, I'm sure they'll make SteamOS machines. Until then, they still have to pay their rent.
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Tax?
It's $100 cheaper than the high spec CyberPower steam machine, the only difference is 4GB RAM instead of 8GB. Similar CPU and GPU.
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If you think the OEM charge for Windows is high, you should try licensing OSX sometime.
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I think it's quite the opposite actually. I imagine in high enough volumes OEM licenses would be pretty cheap.
The stupidly high retail licence costs and low volume OEM licenses are there to make it look like its worth more than it is.
I can buy a laptop for $388NZ. The cheapest I can get Windows OEM for is $135. That's makes it seem like a good deal - $388 laptop with $135 of software for free. The retail Windows 8.1 is $284.
I wouldn't be surprised if Asus only paid Microsoft $10.
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You can't blame Alienware for being lukewarm on an OS which Valve itself seems pretty lukewarm on.
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What's your alternative? They have to sell the machines they have and sitting around waiting for vaporware will just lose them a lot of money. People who want games and are buying gaming-oriented hardware sold at a premium price do not just want a generic Linux distribution with office applications. So Windows is the only viable choice they have.
I think Alienware was a bit naive and credulous if they built all these machines under the assumption that they would always be steam machines, it is more likely
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Well, the alternative is to either sell a real product, OR sell nothing while waiting for Valve vaporware. Guess what really companies that really have to stay in business do.
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I do find it amusing the idea of a "gaming laptop". Build quality might be nice if you get something like Alienware, but the expense and lack of proper cooling or expandability kinda makes the whole enterprise seem a bit like selling ice to Eskimos.
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Yeah you got me. I've never used a gaming laptop. Possibly due to the fact that they all seem to have aesthetics designed to appear cool to teenagers, but come off as a bit too try-hard. I'm sure there's some remaining features of them; I mean Alienware's been around for ages, some people must be buying their stuff. Perhaps not the smartest of folks, but we can't all be sensible with our money can we?
I'm not so concerned about the aesthetics but if Alienware laptops are overpriced then what is the appropriately priced alternative?
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'Premium' hardware is a constantly moving target. Every second it's not on the market it's depreciating.
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So they take premium hardware, run it on a second rate OS, and hope flowers will bloom out of the pile of manure? Those who would argue about whether Linux is not the best OS to run on premium hardware, needs to go over to TOP500.org, and look at the overwhelming majority of supercomputers that run Linux.
And how many games run on those supercomputers? Those who would argue about whether Linux is the best OS to run games need to go over to Steam's Hardware & Software Survey [steampowered.com], and look at the underwhelming minority of gaming computers that run Linux.
Linux games on Steam recently reached the 500 mark, which I think is excellent and highly encouraging for the platform. But your argument that Windows is a second rate OS for gaming is still laughable and demonstrably wrong.
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What would be interesting to see is the difference in performance between the two operating systems running the same games on identical hardware.
If there is a performance advantage to steamos then gamers will use it. Smart gamers will dualboot if there are games they want to play that are not available for one os but are for the other.
What about compatibilty (Score:2)
If your games only run for a few years and then the new distro can't run them then it really sucks. I've been wondering if something like RHEL, Solaris or FreeBSD would be a better gaming OS than your typical distro. (Of course the latter ones would have bad hardware support, such as just nvidia for graphics, Intel and Realtek for sound and network, and get lost if you have anything else)
Re: (Score:2)
Well Playstation 3 runs a Unix variant
It is not a full BSD though, no kernel notice in the license list.
http://www.scei.co.jp/ps3-lice... [scei.co.jp]
The PS4 however, does run BSD.
http://www.scei.co.jp/ps4-lice... [scei.co.jp]
IIRC some PS2 games also include BSD license notices for the networking stack. Sony's a big fan of open source....compared to Microsoft or Nintendo.
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IIRC some PS2 games also include BSD license notices for the networking stack. Sony's a big fan of open source....compared to Microsoft or Nintendo.
Open Source, yes. Free Software, hell no. We've seen how they feel about that. They certainly wouldn't adopt any code that had anti-tivoization licensing.
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which is why I used the term "open source", that was by intent. They have GPL'd some of their own code. I guess you might say that they have "mixed feelings".
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Buy the CyberPower one then. $500 for an AMD A6 or $650... for an i3.
Applying updates to Windows (Score:2)
and the considerable additional maintenance requirements that go along with a full fledged operating system. Considering that Windows has required more frequent patches for security issues than Linux for the past few years, that's not a trivial distinction.
To update a console's system software, the user activates a button "Install updates and restart". To update Windows, the user activates a button "Install updates and restart". Since Windows 8, Windows will apply downloaded updates in the background after 72 hours. What's the practical difference?
As an example, how long has it been since you've updated your smart TV or DVR as opposed to your desktop or laptop?
I was under the impression that DVRs tended to update in the background whenever TiVo or your cable company pushed out an update.
Re: (Score:2)
SteamOS via Linux has to provide some credible benefits to the user. Unless Valve develops something exclusive for SteamOS that you can't get on regular Windows Steam, then there is nothing that benefits the USER as opposed to Valve's benefit of not relying on Windows or buying Windows licenses for each SteamOS console.
The other potential benefit to Valve is higher game performance. Remember all those reports about framerates improving just by switching to Linux? You have to look at it from Valve's perspective. The PC game market is a small fraction of the console video game market. Here's what consoles offer:
-guaranteed compatibility
-low system maintenance
-general ease-of-use
-single-screen multiplayer for social/casual games ("couch use")
-simple software distribution and installation
Valve has already taken care of th