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ZDNet: “What We Really Think Of The Steam Machine”

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  ZDNet: “What We Really Think Of The Steam Machine” Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-02 06:17 +0000
    Re: ZDNet: “What We Really Think Of The Steam Machine” VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2026-08-02 02:26 -0500
      Re: ZDNet: “What We Really Think Of The Steam Machine” Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-02 07:38 +0000
        Re: ZDNet: “What We Really Think Of The Steam Machine” VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2026-08-02 03:04 -0500
          Re: ZDNet: “What We Really Think Of The Steam Machine” Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-02 08:34 +0000
        Re: ZDNet: “What We Really Think Of The Steam Machine” Paul <nospam@needed.invalid> - 2026-08-02 11:39 -0400
          Re: ZDNet: “What We Really Think Of The Steam Machine” Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> - 2026-08-02 23:00 +0000
            Re: ZDNet: “What We Really Think Of The Steam Machine” John Ames <commodorejohn@gmail.com> - 2026-08-03 10:10 -0700

#89440 — ZDNet: “What We Really Think Of The Steam Machine”

Steam Machine review summary: interesting to see how the reviewers
<https://www.zdnet.com/video/what-we-really-think-of-the-steam-machine/>
take for granted features that a Windows-based PC cannot provide.

One of them talks about taking the box into the living room, and using
it there, without a second thought (or complaints from the spouse).
Remember, Microsoft tried to do its “Living Room PC” thing with
Windows Media Center, and failed. But this Linux-based SteamOS
operates without any drama in that role.

And then there is the well-known friction with everything
Windows-based, including regularly having to download tons of updates
before you can actually play your games. SteamOS actually gets close
to the switch-on-and-go experience of a console, even as consoles
themselves seem to be losing some of that smoothness themselves.

Very likely, the attractiveness of the form factor will prompt vendors
to launch Windows-based rivals, just as happened with the handheld
Steam Deck. And just like with the Steam Deck, the awkwardness of
Windows will simply throw the slickness of the Linux-based interface
into even more stark relief; to the point where some of those
competitors will want to adopt SteamOS for their offerings as well.

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#89443

Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

> Steam Machine review summary: interesting to see how the reviewers
> <https://www.zdnet.com/video/what-we-really-think-of-the-steam-machine/>
> take for granted features that a Windows-based PC cannot provide.
> 
> One of them talks about taking the box into the living room, and using
> it there, without a second thought (or complaints from the spouse).
> Remember, Microsoft tried to do its “Living Room PC” thing with
> Windows Media Center, and failed. But this Linux-based SteamOS
> operates without any drama in that role.
> 
> And then there is the well-known friction with everything
> Windows-based, including regularly having to download tons of updates
> before you can actually play your games. SteamOS actually gets close
> to the switch-on-and-go experience of a console, even as consoles
> themselves seem to be losing some of that smoothness themselves.
> 
> Very likely, the attractiveness of the form factor will prompt vendors
> to launch Windows-based rivals, just as happened with the handheld
> Steam Deck. And just like with the Steam Deck, the awkwardness of
> Windows will simply throw the slickness of the Linux-based interface
> into even more stark relief; to the point where some of those
> competitors will want to adopt SteamOS for their offerings as well.

Oh great. No article, just a video without a text transcription.  In the
video, a comment appears saying the price is $1049 for 512GB (which is
probably the drive size, not the RAM).  Pretty small storage capacity
for a $1K box.  Wouldn't take many video games to fill that up (for what
is left after consumption by the OS, the Steam app, and whatever they
bundled on the drive), especially since some games have fan missions
that could occupy more than a terabyte of storage.

https://store.steampowered.com/hardware/steammachine
Shows pricing for better models.

While they claim 4K video, even they recommend staying down at 1080 to
avoid lag in gameplay.  I'm not impressed, but then I don't a crappy
computer setup.  I jobbed my own high-end $2800 PC with a hell of lot
more RAM, a hell of lot bigger nVME and SSD drives, and sustainable and
stable 4K video.  I didn't buy some prebuilt meant for business-only
use.  The Steam Machine would be a severe downgrade for me.

Oh, wowie, it runs a Linux distro - SteamOS - but still has to use the
Steam app.  Seems every couple days when I load the Steam app that I
have to wait until it completes yet another update.  And sometimes it
also lags on logging in.  

And there are which games you can play on this.  Does the Steam app
ensure it present or offers games that have been curated as playable on
this box?  With the low FPS on this box for 4K games, they should also
mentioned Steam's recommendation for video resolution on this box (which
will probably the 1080p they downgraded their claim, and changing their
claim to "up to" 4K).  Or, are users yet again left to hoping a game
they want to buy, download, and play will work on this box?


Oh, and right now you can only join a waitlist hoping to get one, but
not knowing when.

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#89444

On Sun, 2 Aug 2026 02:26:16 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:

> Oh, wowie, it runs a Linux distro - SteamOS - but still has to use
> the Steam app. Seems every couple days when I load the Steam app
> that I have to wait until it completes yet another update. And
> sometimes it also lags on logging in.

Well-known Windows-specific problems, in other words ...

> And there are which games you can play on this. Does the Steam app
> ensure it present or offers games that have been curated as playable
> on this box?

There are lots of games that have been validated for SteamOS. As
mentioned in the video, some even offer presets that are optimized for
Steam Deck/Steam Box.

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#89446

Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

> On Sun, 2 Aug 2026 02:26:16 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:
> 
>> Oh, wowie, it runs a Linux distro - SteamOS - but still has to use
>> the Steam app. Seems every couple days when I load the Steam app
>> that I have to wait until it completes yet another update. And
>> sometimes it also lags on logging in.
> 
> Well-known Windows-specific problems, in other words ...

Nothing to do under which OS the Steam app runs.  The app has to get
updated, and often.  As for lags during login, no user on any platform
controls the responsiveness of the authentication server.

It's not just the Steam app that gets updated.  It's also the Steam
games.  See https://steamdb.info/patchnotes/.  

Presumably on a Steam box, the Steam app is configured to load on OS
startup, and stay loaded.  The app and game updates probably occur in
the background, but that doesn't obviate they happen.  I could leave the
Steam app running all the time on my Windows box, too, but I don't, and
why I notice when it lags on load to perform updates.

>> And there are which games you can play on this. Does the Steam app
>> ensure it present or offers games that have been curated as playable
>> on this box?
> 
> There are lots of games that have been validated for SteamOS. As
> mentioned in the video, some even offer presets that are optimized for
> Steam Deck/Steam Box.

When using the Steam app to visit the Steam store, does it actually flag
which games are curated for the Steam Machine platform?  You saying some
games are doesn't mean the users are informed instead of having to
research it before buying.  Sound like you don't know.  I do know that
what the Steam app lists at the Steam Store does *NOT* check sysreqs for
my platform against the games they list.

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#89447

On Sun, 2 Aug 2026 03:04:39 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:

> The app and game updates probably occur in the background, but that
> doesn't obviate they happen.

On Windows, you have this problem that files that are currently open
in some running process are “locked”, and cannot be updated without
quitting the offending process, and restarting it afterwards. And if
that “process” happens to be buried deep inside the kernel, then a
system restart becomes mandatory.

On Linux, this happens a bit more seamlessly.

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#89473

On Sun, 8/2/2026 3:38 AM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:
> On Sun, 2 Aug 2026 02:26:16 -0500, VanguardLH wrote:
> 
>> Oh, wowie, it runs a Linux distro - SteamOS - but still has to use
>> the Steam app. Seems every couple days when I load the Steam app
>> that I have to wait until it completes yet another update. And
>> sometimes it also lags on logging in.
> 
> Well-known Windows-specific problems, in other words ...
> 
>> And there are which games you can play on this. Does the Steam app
>> ensure it present or offers games that have been curated as playable
>> on this box?
> 
> There are lots of games that have been validated for SteamOS. As
> mentioned in the video, some even offer presets that are optimized for
> Steam Deck/Steam Box.
> 

You wouldn't be much of a gamer, if you didn't hack your system.

There is at least one third-party item for Patch Tuesday control.

The highest friction item on an install, is the anti-cheat software,
which now has a TPM dependency. A machine without a TPM is unlikely
to be a good candidate for commercial gaming.

The Win11 23H2 I have in a VM right now on the machine, the
last Patch Tuesday for that is 2025-11. I am expected to do
a Version Upgrade, if I want the Patch Tuesday to deliver more
current patches. Only 24H2 and 25H2 would be receiving Patch
Tuesday.

   Paul

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#89484

On Sun, 2 Aug 2026 11:39:45 -0400, Paul wrote:

> The highest friction item on an install, is the anti-cheat software,
> which now has a TPM dependency. A machine without a TPM is unlikely
> to be a good candidate for commercial gaming.

The games that demand this strict anti-cheat compliance are very
firmly in the minority, and seem destined to stay that way.

I’ve said it before, I think the problem will solve itself, just
through the action of good old market forces: the user experience on
the SteamOS devices is compelling enough that they will become more
and more popular. And as that happens, the makers of the games that
refuse to run on SteamOS will find themselves leaving more and more
money on the table, which is not a rational way to run a business.

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#89514

On Sun, 2 Aug 2026 23:00:49 -0000 (UTC)
Lawrence D’Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

> The games that demand this strict anti-cheat compliance are very
> firmly in the minority, and seem destined to stay that way.

I cannot imagine wanting to play a game badly enough that I'd let some
pervert corporation install spyware on my system for it.

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