Some of the first Steam Machines have already shipped out and some pre-picked beta testers already received their own samples in a rather cool looking wooden box and it is no wonder that some unboxing videos have already showed up online. Valve has also released a new SteamOS FAQ page that gives us a bit more detail regarding the Debian GNU/Linux based OS as well as its hardware requirements and plenty of other details.

Some of the beta testers that already received their own sample was pleasantly surprised by the special wooden crate that the beta system is shipped in. The Steam Machine is practically a PC system packed in a custom chassis that should bring PC gaming to living room, but the box also includes a beta Steam controller as well and it is quite clear that Valve knows how to treat its beta testers.

In addition to the Steam Machines unboxing videos, Valve has also released the new SteamOS FAQ which shows more details regarding the system as well as some more details regarding hardware requirements and practically any question that you might have regarding the SteamOS.

The SteamOS 1.0, is called "alchemist" and it is based on Debian "wheezy" (stable 7.1) distribution. It currently needs Intel or AMD 64-bit capable processor, 4GB or more memory, 500GB or larger HDD, Nvidia graphics card (AMD and Intel support coming soon), UEFI boot support and USB port. According to some of the first hands-on, the SteamOS is impressive and it is quite clear that Valve has put a lot of effort to make it as smooth and appealing as possible.

In any case, we will certainly here more about the cons and pros of both the beta Steam Machines as well as the SteamOS as soon as beta testers, as well as all other users that install it on their SFF PC systems, get cracking.











Source: Dualshockers.com, Steammachinebetatester,SteamOS FAQ.