Valve have just announced they will be releasing their very own operating system. It’s going to be built around Steam itself, while using the architecture of Linux. SteamOS as it’s called will be available soon as a free stand-alone operating system for living room machines.
Basically, if you can hook your computer up to the TV, this is the operating system for you. It’s great to think that Steam has come so far since replacing the World Opponent Network back in 2004.
Four new Steam features have been confirmed and will be available soon for both SteamOS, and for the Steam client. Here’s what Valve had to say;
In-home Streaming: You can play all your Windows and Mac games on your SteamOS machine, too. Just turn on your existing computer and run Steam as you always have – then your SteamOS machine can stream those games over your home network straight to your TV.
Music, TV, Movies: We’re working with many of the media services you know and love. Soon we will begin bringing them online, allowing you to access your favorite music and video with Steam and SteamOS.
Family Sharing: In the past, sharing Steam games with your family members was hard. Now you can share the games you love with the people you love. Family Sharing allows you to take turns playing one another’s games while earning your own Steam achievements and saving your individual game progress to the Steam cloud.
Family Options: The living-room is family territory. That’s great, but you don’t want to see your parents’ games in your library. Soon, families will have more control over what titles get seen by whom, and more features to allow everyone in the house to get the most out of their Steam libraries.
I love the idea of family sharing, I can’t wait to see exactly how that works. There is so much more, you can get the full story at the official release. I can’t wait to hear more, we have been promised more information over the coming weeks so stay tuned for more!
