Steam To Come Pre-Installed On Alienware PCs

In what’s probably more important news than you first realise, Dell and Valve have signed a deal whereby Steam will come pre-installed on all Alienware computers.

That’s every single one of the gaming PC-makers laptops and desktops going forward. With a free copy of Portal thrown in for good measure. Sounds trivial, but this is exactly the kind of thing that gives Internet Explorer such a huge market share: it’s not because it’s any good, it’s because you buy a PC, and it’s normally already there, waiting for you.

Since Alienware aren’t exactly the world’s #1 supplier of gaming hardware, this move in of itself isn’t that important, but if you think Dell (who own Alienware) are the only company Valve are going to sign a deal like this with, you’re mad as a hatter.