As is the case with apples and oranges, the two are not mutually exclusive.

Impulse have so far never given me a i wanna strangle the shit out of this software so impulse have a score of 10/10 so far. while steam continue to to have 0/10 for me. steam have never ever given me something i wanted and always been a reason for headaces.

When Steam first game, I disliked it. I didn't want to install any additional programs on my computer just to play the same Half Life mods I'd played before. It also took long time for a patch to arrive for Desert Crisis, if I remember right, and the mod was pretty abandoned for a longish time. When I heard lots of people having problems with Steam, I simply uninstalled HL1 and went for other games.

I haven't gotten over this. As long as Steam needs to be on to play games, and there's checks that require internet connection, I won't be touching Steam. Just recently a friend bought Zeno Clash via Steam, a game I really wanted to play. But, as long as it needs Steam, I won't. I didn't really want to install Impulse at first, either, since I put some value on owning game manuals (when they're good manuals. Like in Arcanum) and packages. But since I liked Stardock to begin with, and after reading about Impulse and Stardock's policy concerning DRM, it wasn't that big deal to download a game digitally. Well, excluding some problems with payment methods.

It's like OP said, it's good there are options. Many shops simply won't seem to bother with PC games nowadays, and with digital downloading eliminating much of the distribution costs (and pollution, too), it is a good choice. Impulse is pretty much what made it possible for me. There are some games in Steam I'd like to play, but there are lots of good ones in Impulse too.. atm I'm already looking forward to Elemental.

Though I still do miss good manuals with some background story and art. But whatever, as long as the games are good, and computer gaming stays alive

Impulse is a bit more stable for me, and quicker to start. It's also prettier - you can tell that it was designed by experts on user interfaces. Lastly, offline mode is much, much more reliable with Impulse.

Which is not to say that Steam is bad: for the most part it does it's job pretty well and doesn't give too much grief. Try using it with a slightly flakey internet connection, though, and it's becomes a real pain.

Yeah, Impulse is faster, more compatible(Steam doesn't work in the DMZ of all things), uses significantly less system resources, has a cleaner interface, and is vastly more useful on the information front.  Having information on how large a patch is for instance...

Although niether of them function well on satellite at all...

I think there's a misconception that Gamers Gate is owned still by Paradox.  Check out this interview with GamersGate CEO Theodore Bergquist, over here (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/the-gate-keeper).  Specifically:

"Q: Historically GamersGate was part of Paradox Interactive - do you still maintain that relationship?

Theodore Bergquist: Yes, it's both ways. GamersGate is a completely separate entity with separate management, budget, goals and so on, but it did start as a project under Paradox because their community demanded some downloading services, because they couldn't buy the games.

The first traffic came from the Paradox community, and they're still into GamersGate, but as we grow their relative size is getting smaller. Certainly there are fans still buying Paradox games on GamersGate though. "

Rather than Impulse vs. Steam, I'm more curious to compare Impulse to Steam to salesforce.com AppExchange to Apple iStore.  In general, there seem to be a lot of competing distribution platforms for various types of software.  I'll be curious to see in a few more years what people generally think works vs. what doesn't, and in what field.

Hate them both...can't give any valid or such arguments..it is just me.I hate pay/download..pay/view and so on.Like it better when i go to the shop,pick it from the shelf,pay for it.Go home and enjoy the box,the dvd,the manual,the posters and so on.

Steam and impulse can't give me any of that.

Yes...I always would rather pay for something that i actually hold in my hand.I will never have to download the full game,i do not need internet connection to play it since i own the dvd i can install it wherever,whenever i want to.Because it is mine,i own the game.With impulse it is just a bit(lot) different.My only game i payed for via steam was cs source,and i hate it to this day.Not the game itself,but the way you need to download and then play.

Could not install it on my laptop.Maybe i do not feel like playing online 24/7,maybe my laptop is not ment for online games,maybe i just wanted to have a little fun while playing cs,i was 300KM away from home,no internet available,so i could not play the game i payed for,that just sucks.

Even if i know i pay more,i own the game,no need to download all kind of stuff,and no need to connect to the internet every time.As said in the matrix,"the problem is choice",well i choose to do with my game whatever i want to,i do not like when i am obligated to stick with something like impulse,otherwise i will never be able to play the game.And every time on every pc/laptop i need to redownload the game.That is just crap.

It isn't about the shiny box,it is about what is in that box.And it is about the choices i have,with the ownership of the game i can do with it whatever i want to,with download via impulse,my choices are limited

Are you referring about Impulse or Steam?

well i know stardock offers to send you a physical box and manual etc. as an option.  I dont think it comes with the disk but they will ship it to you and i do not believe steam offers this service at the moment