I can't see the Steamboxes selling successfully.

Most consumers just never wipe / install any kind of OSes. It's the area technically adept or those who like to tinker with their systems. This applies to desktops as well. How many consumers actually ever installed Windows themselves? Only a small percentage. Most people simply use what's coming preinstalled.

why not ?:) I understand that you are windows fan, and i can understand possible reasoning behind that but it doesn't make linux bad. In fact using linux as a platform will probably make steamboxes even better since it can be very easily customized.

Also, for the long time Windows was relatively good for running MS Office and was better for games (faster graphics subsystem, better videocard drivers) and it's still occasionally true for some cases but generally it's just sucks comparing to linux or mac as a desktop system.

I may remember wrong, but I believe Steam OS autolaunches Steam's full-screen mode though you can exit to the standard desktop (Gnome3, I think) running behind it.

Before you made that bet, you should have considered how much Windows OS costs when bought separately on an existing PC (be it Steambox, or not). That alone will probably make sure most people will certainly not buy Windows from store in order to install it separately. Most people get OEM Windows (usually preloaded on a new PC) because it is considerably cheaper then.

Unless, of course, Microsoft completely changes their pricing for desktop Windows OS.

Add to that that for most people installing Windows OS yourself is about as scary as installing Linux from scratch yourself, even more so if you intend to install it on a system which came preloaded with some other OS (e.g. SteamOS).

I've heard rumors that MS would be offering a free starter version of Windows, but that would be for the same reason that MS has never been particularly tough on pirates either. Having a huge install base, even if it isn't completely legitimate is good for them. I think they mostly go after companies that have unlicensed copies installed rather than home users.

It seems that "Windows 8.1 with Bing" is/will be a low-cost OEM edition for manufacturers of low-cost machines, not sold directly to consumers.

Rep is dead.

It's also been known to cause sun eclipses and locust swarm invasions. I've seen a computer, which was running it, kick the neighbour's dog and ate another one's cat. It's mean yo!