who cares really i dislike Win 8, love the performance tweaks hate the GUI, they locked out the ability to switch back to the old Win 7 interface that was a big F U to me,
as for Games Linux actually stands a chance lets take a quick look
what do most mobile computing devices use? Open GL ES 1.0 and ES 2.0
that means Tablets, Smartphones, ARM based devices all use Open GL,
Nintendo Wii, Wii U are Open GL
Playstation 3 is Open GL
Playstation 4 or W.e is Open GL
Id Tech Game Engine = Open GL
Unreal Engine supports Open GL
Source Engine supports Open GL
Unigen Engine supports Open GL
Most professional Applications use Open GL
Was talking with Mussels about this earlier,
PS3 Open GL ES 2.0 or in reality Sonys bastardised version has Shader Model 2.0 like effects, and abilities and we can see what a PS3 can put out examples Metal Gear Solid, Uncharted, Killzone etc
Valve moving to Linux is probably more related to Steam Box or something similar but effectively there is 0 reason for Linux to not have support for games, as it stands Open GL 4.1 allows for Open GL ES 2.0 to work together aka they are compatible finally Open GL ES 2.0 came out in 2007 as a standard, it wasnt untill Open GL 4.1 came about that Desktop users could run Open GL ES 2.0 apps, hilariously enough AMD GPUs support Open GL ES 2.0 as is,
This means todays desktop GPUs with Open GL 4.1 support could in theory run PS3 ports etc, and AMD already having Open GL ES 2.0 could give them an edge in support. This kinda gives the AMD / Valve combo a bit of an upside well sort of AMD Open GL support is spotty at best in professional apps altho game support seems to be fine, but it depends on what your looking at. Regardless Valve has the software side covered, AMD looks to be along with Dell's Alienware brand as hardware / oem support, now add in an unrestricted OS with no limitation or cost for use.
In terms of the way things are looking PS3 / PS4 to linux ports are possible much like Xbox 360 to PC was, as it stands any Mac compatible game should be easily ported to linux as well.
Examples of Mac games that should be easy to port to Linux
Left 4 Dead 2
Civilization V
Counter Strike
Amnesia The Dark Descent
Star Wars The Force Unleashed
Crusader Kings II
Grand Thef Auto Vice City
Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic
Trine 2
Trine
Half Life 2
Assassins Creed Brotherhood
Assassins Creed II
The Witcher
Killing Floor
The Darkness II
Driver San Francisco
Dear Esther
Torchlight
Civilization IV
Blades of Time
Serious Sam 3 BFE
Tom Clancy Splinter Cell Conviction
RUSE
Two Worlds II
Duke Nukem Forever
385 games that are Mac Compatible,
thats 385 games that could quickly be ported over, add in Open GL's usage in the mobile market is extreme well you can start to see the picture.
Now add in the fact that Valve is potentially worth MORE than AMD at this point (supposedly valued around $3 Billion), it doesnt seem all that far fetched that with AMD as one of their premier partners Dell as an OEM, that they had this planned. Valve has been making strategic partnerships for some time, so steam box could be a reality altho less an actually system and more an Ideal as it were.
as it stands a Linux based gaming system means free OS, free OS means $100 towards better parts in theory raising the minimum spec builds because of OS cost being taken out.
Overall Gabe does have issues expressing himself but should he succeed i would gladly switch to Linux for gaming, Open GL or Direct X matters not to me both can achieve the same graphics fidelity, and in fact Open GL has the greater possible audience as of Open GL ES 2.0 and Open GL 4.1. Desktops both Mac, Linux, Windows support Open GL, iPhone, iPad, other tablets ARM based devices Windows RT all make use of Open GL ES 1.0 2.0 etc etc, with combined functionality and almost ALL of todays game engines supporting Open GL is some form, its really not that hard to see what Gabe is pushing for, support for most of it is already there it just requires a push.