Valve Announces Steam OS
The push to control the living room has come from countless companies, including Google, Apple, and now Valve. Game development and PC marketplace operator, Valve releases Steam OS which will function on “any living room machine,” and will stream games from any Mac or PC. The OS will function as a way to operate games on television, and offer streaming ability to living room machines. “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,” the announcement page says. The OS is based on Linux which means the OS will be FREE! As of now, Valve isn’t offering a ‘steam box’ at the moment to install this OS on. You’ll be able to install Steam OS on any PC in your living room that you see fit. While many households don’t have PC’s connected to their living room, Valve’s expected to release a dedicated box called Steam Box.
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.