Another fun fact: you can set pretty much anything up as a non-steam game if you want, which is good for doing things that the Steam Link doesn't normally support. For example, you can set up VLC and use it to stream movies over to your TV. Or a web browser would probably work too.
I would think the only exception would be things that use HDCP protection, like maybe Netflix.
You can also Exit Big Picture from the shutdown menu to just exit Big Picture mode but leave the Steam Link stream running. You'll get access to your full desktop this way. If you have a keyboard and mouse hooked up to the Steam Link, they'll work for a pretty nice remote desktop setup.
It's certainly not perfect, but I discovered just the other day that the "Big Picture" web browser (embedded chromium, IIRC) does work with Netflix. I think maybe you can't get 4k or 5.1 sound unless you're using Edge or the windows store app though.
The resolution and bitrate is burned in for each quality level they stream. I'm topping out at 3000kbps/720p in Chrome. I don't have a Windows machine to test on, though.
When I last saw it reported, 1080p is the max unless you use a Kaby Lake CPU and Edge (and the premium higher-price 4-stream Netflix subscription). The Windows Store app does not go above 1080p.
I have Plex Media Player as a non-steam game, and used the configurator so that the UI is entirely navigable with a standard Xbox One or Steam controller. So it's doable.
It's about these new APIs. If they'll be tied to Steam, and games will use them, then controller will be useless when those games will be distributed through GOG and other non Steam stores.
Can confirm. I play Final Fantasy XIV as a non-steam game with my Steam Controller and don't lose any features, including the ability to share mappings with the community. As a nice plus, it even works in the launcher which is a separate process, so I can fully play from the couch without fiddling with my computer (most of the time!)
I got it working with Dolphin recently. Not a pleasant experience, but it was possible, which is the thing that really makes me like the Steam Controller.
Similar story with Undertale (not in Steam). The Steam Overlay doesn't want to work with it, so I can't even launch it with Steam without it simply crashing. Instead I set up a "desktop" mode with like 5 sub-modes to handle various games that don't work when launched from Steam, and it works. Amazing.
Easily the most flexible input device I've ever used. I love it. It can take a while (far too long for many people, which is totally fair) to get it exactly the way I want it, but thus far it has always been possible.
Meanwhile. Many of us just plug our xinput devices in, and they just work with almost every game, no need to run steam in the background, no need to set up 6 different "modes" inside a walled garden distribution platform he tto use my controller.
Console games works just fine with the Steam Controller, this article is about adapting PC games for controller+touchpad+gyro action. But it's true that Xinput just works, for one set of hardware, that if something is a walled garden.
You can run it in "desktop mode" too, and there's a hidden .ini file you can edit. I play Hearthstone entirely with my Steam Controller without running it through Steam. You still need Steam to be running though, otherwise the controller is a generic HID device.
There are projects to make standalone drivers to use a steam controller in Linux without Steam, though I can't say how well they work. https://github.com/kozec/sc-controller
