Steam is easier than driving 15-20 miles to the nearest Gamestop and rifling through their crappy collection, the wait is shorter than buying off Amazon/Newegg, they have yet to block my ability to download a game just because I've already activated it 5 times (looking at you, Direct2Drive. Ever heard of a reformat, assholes?), and their deals usually beat Impulse out. Steam also has a better UI than Impulse IMO. GoG is pretty awesome, but their selection isn't as great. I do go there for any older games I want though.
I can backup my games without fighting with CD protections. Offline mode + decent laptop means it's simple to take all my favorite games when I travel.
Yes. There is DRM involved. They don't want their stuff stolen constantly. But it doesn't interfere with how I wish to use the games, and this is after using the service for around...hell, how long has HL2 been out? However long that is. And it's basically my primary source of games, and my primary game launcher as well. Has been for around 3 or so years now. My account has never been disabled, I've never had games disabled or removed, and Steam itself has never had more than minor issues on my computers. In fact, the only game-interrupting issues I've had with steam, not counting serial shortages during holiday sales, have been caused by 3rd party DRM left in games by the developer or a game not actually being compatible with Windows 7.
For me at least, the advantages greatly outweigh the negative.
For ninja post:
-Never had to deal with support for Steam. No opinion.
-True. It would be nice. However, I can't remember doing that with any of my other games. Given the option though, I might now.
-Also true. I don't often resell, but I have a couple I'd like to sell back cause they suck.
-While this is true, I know no one it's happened to. My password for Steam is fairly good, and my steam account name is different from all my other accounts. Not foolproof of course, but that with plus paying attention when random links pop up has served me well.
-Once again, it is a possibility but I know no one it's happened to. I rarely play MP anyways.
-I've never seen that on mine. No opinion.
Yes, Steam has bad stuff. It also has good. It's a matter of figuring which way they balance for you.