Steam games - good or bad?

[napoleon]

I first encountered STEAM when I needed it to install NAPOLEON: TOTAL WAR in March 2010 and was at first a bit dubious.

However, over the months I have grown to quite like it. There are regular updates for games, plus achievements to gain for them, and I have purchased other titles directly through STEAM to my account as well.

Several months ago my computer went wrong big time and I had to reinstall all my software again. I wondered if the STEAM ones would be okay but fortunately everything was installed without a hitch and still works perfectly.

However, I have heard some people have had horror stories over STEAM, with nightmares over all sorts of problems. Do viewers find it a good thing or could they do well without it?