Steam OS now available for download!

The first 300 prototypes of Valve’s much-awaited Steam Machines have been shipped and, along with it, the Steam OS has been released to the public. As reported earlier, the Steam OS became available for download in the beta mode. The OS will be powering the new gaming consoles (Steam Machines). Valve had earlier announced a December 13 release, advising that only pro-Linux users should download the OS right now.

According to the company, the Steam OS is based on Debian 7 (Wheezy), which has reportedly been optimised by Valve for a living room experience. Further, the GNOME desktop environment is also a pre-installed part of the operating system. And while the OS has been built for gaming purposes, it can still be used as a work PC. Users will simply need to download any relevant software that they need.

The company has also released a set of instructions for those looking to build their own Steam Machines using the Steam OS beta version. In addition, the installation process for the OS is quite simple but you will need to rid your PC of all other operating systems and existing partitions on the PC.