Creating a dedicated PC gaming console/machine? (re: Windows, etc)

[Vinlaen]

Has anybody created a dedicated Windows-based gaming console/machine?

I'm aware of SteamOS which runs Linux (Debian) but it's limited in the number of games you can play so I'd like to focus on Windows (10).

Does anybody have any tips for doing this? It looks like Windows 10 Enterprise has custom shell launchers (kiosk mode) so you can auto-login to a specific user account and then automatically launch Steam and lock it to that application, etc.

There is also Launcher4Kodi which launches Kodi on boot (and then you can launch Steam, etc), but I'm not sure about the pros/cons versus the Windows 10 shell launcher/kiosk mode.

Also, which launcher would be best? I can use Steam Big Picture Mode or Kodi, or maybe something else exists? Alienware also has a custom shell that they use for Windows-based Steam machines.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated...

[ugafan]

this is how you get steam to automatically launch after logging into windows 10.

steam settings > interface > check "run steam when my computer starts" and "start steam in big picture mode"

[Master0fBlunt]

To be honest, a clean install of Windows 10 will grant you the best performance. Imstall it on another partition/drive and use that one to play games ONLY. Steam OS has no benefit performance-wise that I've heard, and has limited library of compatible games bc Steam OS is Linux. So for compatibility and performance, a clean install with no other programs bogging it down. Now if youre looking for a living room PC, and you just want something that you hit the power button on and poof, you have an over-priced/powered console, than yes I would go with Steam OS for "ease of use".

[Air]

Personally, I'd just have Steam launch in BPM on startup. However, it doesn't have the benefit of having system settings within BPM like SteamOS does, so there might be some things that you'll need to do with a keyboard and mouse(such as GPU driver updates).

Also, you can add Kodi into Steam's library as a non-Steam application to make it accessible with a controller.

[Sticky Honeybuns]

I have a dedicated VR pc in a dedicated VR room. You are better off just to build a normal gaming PC and have steam launch on startup. Any sub program or OS other than w10 is just going to degrade performance.