The thing is that SteamOS will most likely support the entire Steam gaming library without having to use WINE. While not a big deal and truly something that does not bother most Linux users, for some it just might be the tipping point to make them switch to a Linux-based OS.
I highly doubt this. Most source games are linux compatible already... And frankly, if Steam were to try and make it's OS "NT Compatable", we probably would have heard SOME sort of legal fallout already.
Anyone who has used WINE should have noticed it's not exactly got the highest compatibility rate, and anyone who has used it extensively will know they've worked bloody hard to get it that far. There's absolutely no way Steam could go one better than WINE without making a large business deal with Microsoft... Or working with the WINE team themselves. (Which is frankly a possibility.)
Aside from the idea of a WINE collaboration (which has great prospects outside of gaming), or the idea of a deal with Microsoft, that is largely counter-intuitive, I find the whole concept of a SteamOS slightly worrying.
Firstly, I'd like to point out this is yet another nail in the already dead and buried coffin of privacy. I wouldn't be surprised if part of the EULA will enable them to screen watch whenever.
Also, isn't it a bit ironic that in Gabe's attempt to "fight the evil of Windows 8", he has inadvertently created something that has the
possibility (I say again,
possibility,) to be just as bad. It's like fighting evil with evil.
Secondly, as much as it talks about Linux, I have a deep feeling that it's not really going to perform like a good Linux system at all. I was slightly disgusted when I bought an android phone, and then had to spend over 20 minutes of literally hacking the thing to access the bash. And that's from an open source operating system.
I honestly doubt they're going to have time to make SteamOS nearly as functional... Which is a big selling point. Or not selling point.
See, yes, this could be just something to slap on a Steambox to put under the telly, but even so, the strong point of steam as a gaming platform, so far, has been that while you can game on it, as a windows, mac or other (probably GNU) Linux system, you can hide steam and go do something else, like write a CV or launch a DDOS attack on that Gmod server 'cos the admin pissed you off.
If the SteamOS is just for playing games, it's going to fail hard, as no one will want that on their main machine and anyone who wants a "games machine" will go and buy the much more refined xbox or playstation.