Steam

Steam is a digital distribution, digital rights management, multiplayer and communications platform developed by Valve Corporation. It is used to digitally distribute and manage games ranging from first-person shooters and RPGs to racing games and cross-genre independent titles. more...

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Among its clients are Take-Two Interactive, Eidos Interactive, Introversion Software, Strategy First, PopCap Games, Capcom, id Software, THQ, Rockstar Games, and most recently, Atari. As of January 29, 2008, over 250 games are available on Steam, and as of February 7, 2008, there are over 15 million accounts.

Client functionality

Steam allows users to purchase access to games through a digital distribution system. Instead of receiving a box, disc, or even CD key, purchased software is immediately attached on the Steam servers to the user's Steam account (which is registered for free), from which it can be accessed and downloaded from anywhere that allows the use of the Steam client. Games can either be bought individually (with some exceptions) or as part of a "package" of multiple games.

The system itself works similarly to a feed reader: The user selects the game they want on their computer and Steam then automates the process of downloading the content and keeping it up to date. The latest version of the game is immediately downloaded, and if there are multiple versions (e.g. a 64-bit edition) the correct one will be chosen automatically based on the computer's hardware and/or software environment. This process happens every time Steam is started online, not just when a game is installed, ensuring that as many users as possible have the latest software. Steam connects over its own internet protocol, independent of the HTTP or FTP protocols used by the web. It downloads only from dedicated "content servers" spread out across the world by Valve and authorised third parties, connecting to several at once to try to ensure a fast and stable connection.

Steam can validate its downloaded content for errors, a process that gives many of the benefits of reinstalling in a fraction of the time.

Steam has a "Distributed File System" that allows a game to launch before it has been completely downloaded. By creating lists of files and requesting them only when about to be needed, a linear game can be begun with only the executable code and a buffer of the first few areas downloaded. In the worst-case scenario, the game will hang while Steam downloads in the background.

Read more at Wikipedia.org