When the OS is done it can be installed on any PC to turn it into a steam console. There is no date for when the updated OS will be made available though.

If there ever will be Steam Machine 2 it'll simply be a prebuild small factor/mini computer with Steam OS preinstalled. IE. it will be a PC. Steam Deck is also a PC. Also SteamOS is also not some sort of black magic. It's modified Linux operating system with Steam preinstalled and setup. You can get same result by installing almost any other Linux distribution and then installing Steam on it.

You can already buy a computer, and you can already put Steam on it. That's why Steam Machines failed. "A second computer for playing games" doesn't really serve any niche when your first computer is fully capable of playing those games.

That's also why the Steam Deck succeeded. It's a normal computer, but it has all the stuff you need to play games built in, so it's much easier to transport. It serves a previously unserved niche.

why do you want steam DRM controling your content. no offense to steam or its DRM users but its a pointless gate keeping used to squeeze profit from things that should never be sold, like really bad video games.

Originally posted by Ben Lubar:

You can already buy a computer, and you can already put Steam on it. That's why Steam Machines failed.

Not really. I had a go at a Steam Machine, an Alienware Alpha.

The issue was, back in those days there was no real controller support. And so the games i wanted to play, i could not. Back then they only had a certain library of games on Steam OS that can be played with a controller.

And a very small library at that. Not to mention, the dashboard very clunky. I sent it back to Dell.

I think now with their Steam interface for controllers, and the strides they have made all around since then it would likely do much better. But if Xboxs new console can get Steam, i'd likely go that route with Win 11.