AMD has added a little more value to steam, if you like the service. It has added the option to update drivers through steam. There is no word yet if that includes beta drivers, though and Nvidia hasn't followed suit as of yet, but hopefully will soon. The updates are optional, unlike Valve's DRM, (which I personally don't mind), you can chose to opt in on the feature.
Personally, I see this as a positive announcement, anything to make the rather boring driver update process easier, I can get behind. I believe this is a step towards AMD's goal of driver auto-updating which they have discussed in the past. Of course, the more learned among us always keep a bank of drivers in case anything goes awry with a new release. The feature is still in it's infancy, so I recommend waiting a little while for any error to be addressed.
Source: [url]http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/2010/09/17/amd-rolls-drivers-into-steam/1[/url]

Interesting development, seems quite useful.
I wonder how many people actually bother to get the latest drivers for their hardware? I know I only bother if something isn't working.
Not that I actually use Steam though. Or have any AMD hardware. But I'm sure others will follow suit.

one of the main problems that causes crashes with steam has been out of date drivers this is probably a win win for steam

I just hope this isn't going to be added to the list of things it tries to install when you first run the game. That's something which is really poorly handled, so I hope they do a better job with this.

lol . . . before you know it . . . the only way you can get video driver update is if you have a steam account . . . =)

...so? Someone will just rip the file and host it somewhere.

What's the point? The program I got with my Nvidia card that manage resolution and such automatically ask me if I want to update when new drivers are available. Why would I need Steam for that? Can't AMD create a similar program?

No.
I don't think so. I have a 2 years old driver and have no problems at all. Even the newest games run fine.

It's proven in countless benchmarks you get significantly better performance with newer drivers. I recommend you install the newest and compare before and after. You will surely be pleased.

I love this feature. It is entirely optional and makes my life even easier. Haven't noticed a difference personally but again I only play 3 games on a regular basis.

My point is that it should be very easy for manufacturers to make such a program and have it on the installation program or their site or on a lot of other places\media. Why the hell should we need Steam for something like that? Big corporations are dumb but please...

You are very much the exception to the rule, then. Generally speaking, nearly all games will perform significantly better on updated drivers than they will on extremely out of date drivers like yours.

Soon, University lectures will be webcasted through Steam.

No doubt we will need a Steam account to listen . . . 8 )