The Alienware Alpha.
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Alienware refits its Steam Machine with Windows and will launch it as a living-room PC

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 3 min

Alienware is launching its Alpha console-like gaming PC at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) trade show today. But instead of running Valve’s Steam OS, the machine will run Microsoft’s Windows operating system and use an Xbox 360 wireless controller.

The Alpha will ship at $549 during the 2014 holiday season. Valve, in the meantime, has delayed the launch of its Steam Machines project, which includes the Linux-based SteamOS and Steam Controller, until 2015. When that project launches, Alienware will offer a version of the Alpha as a Steam Machine, said Frank Azor, executive director of the Alienware PC gaming division of Dell, in an interview with GamesBeat.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.