Alienware's Alpha Console Available for Pre-Order; Will Bring Steam to Gamers this November

Shortly after the CES 2014, Valve has unveiled a full line of gaming PCs running on Steam OS platform. One of which is the Alienware Alpha from Dell. Although this model will not be available until November, interested buyers can now do a pre-order.

Alienware Alpha comes with an Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM, 500GB of storage, and a custom Nvidia-based graphics card with 2GB of dedicated memory. Of course, the console will also offer a number of other configurations with more memory, hard drive space, as well as more powerful processors. It will also feature 2 USB 3.0 ports, 2 USB 2.0 ports, 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, HDMI input and output, as well as optical audio output.

What’s most interesting about the Alpha is that it is basically a standard Windows 8.1 instead of using Valve’s Linux-based Steam OS and the Steam controller. This is after Valve announced that it would delay the Steam OS and controller to 2015.

For this reason, Alienware decided to have its own user interface on top of Windows rather than delay its console. The idea is to provide users a way to access Steam’s "big picture" mode without having to mess around in Windows or use a keyboard and mouse.

Whether or not Alienware’s hybrid Windows/ Steam operating systems scheme will prevail over those who may have been waiting for Valve’s official Steam OS release is yet to be known. However, the company notes that Alpha consoles can easily be updated to run Steam OS and support the Steam controller when they finally launch.

Until that happens, that hybrid solution will have to do at least for now. It’s difficult to determine yet what kind of an audience the Alpha will find. Perhaps, we’ll have to know everything once the Alienware Alpha is released. The console is expected to begin shipping to those who pre-order this November.