By now most of you are aware that Steam will soon be getting a bite out of Apple. (Ok so that clever play on words isn’t as brilliant as I was hoping it would be, but let’s just move on.)

A few weeks ago, Valve announced that it would be porting its industry-defining platform to Apple computers. It’s currently in closed beta and scheduled for release on May 12.

I’ve never been a huge fan of Apple computers. In spite of that, I’m betting that Steam on the Mac will be incredibly good for PC gaming, and not just because I’ll finally be able to play Team Fortress 2 with my girlfriend (who, tragically, drank the Steve Jobs Kool-Aid a while ago and hasn’t looked back).

Here’s five reasons I think this development will shake things up for the better.

1 – Open markets improve products
It’s a demonstrated fact: the wider your audience, the greater the competition, and the better the products. While the number of Mac users is still dwarfed by Windows users, the percentage of people of the “gaming generation” using either machine is much more comparable. Making Steam available on the Mac will increase the potential audience for PC developers by a sizable margin, thereby increasing potential profits and thereby increasing product quality.

2 – It could knock PC developers out of console lock-step
One of the great tragedies of our day is console gaming. Now, consoles in and of themselves are ok, I guess. They’re cheap and easy to use and (relatively) easy to develop for. Unfortunately, those attributes have resulted in a console user-base that is much more profitable for developers than the PC user-base.

Developers know that the odds are good they can make more money with a game on the Xbox 360 or PS3 than they can on the PC; so they don’t make the PC version, or they do a crappy port a few months after release. It doesn’t always happen that way, but it happens enough.

Even when a multi-platform release is done well, however, there are other factors to consider. Namely, the fact that PCs are more powerful gaming machines than any of the consoles by a considerable margin. With the right hardware, a PC can run circles around a console with everything from graphics to controls to enemy AI.

But since there isn’t as much money to be made by developing a PC exclusive (and since pirates have effectively scared away many of the devs that did it anyway), they are few and far between.

Steam on the Mac could change this. Macs are powerful machines, even if their interface is a little…meh. Most of them are set up with the capabilities to run games. If Steam catches on, the market will broaden. And, like I said before, so will the potential profits.

Given time and enough customers, it might knock the development cycles out of lock-step. The Xbox developers could go play in their little corner while the devs interested in really pushing virtual boundaries could develop exclusively for PC without having to worry as much about turning profit.

3 – More Steam users means a more powerful Steam
While there are those who fear Steam’s domination of the digital distribution market, I figure that the best product deserves the best rewards. And right now, Steam is the best product. With more customers, it’s only going to get better. That means more games, more sweet features like Steam Cloud, and …

4 – The death of DRM
Since Steam offers several effective anti-piracy technologies, if it becomes the primary way gamers get their products there will be fewer reasons for developers to explore heinous crimes against humanity with DRM schemes.

DRM in some form is a fact of life – but the escalating war between developers and pirates that recently resulted in Ubisoft’s extreme Big Brother scheme needs to end. Steam could be the answer.

5 – Mac users will be less annoying
This one will take time, admittedly. When Mac users get Steam, their first reaction will be to dress in black turtle necks and strut through supermarkets, pouncing on unsuspecting PC users and shouting “What now!?” in their faces. In other words, most of us won’t notice an immediate change in the status quo.

This phase will pass, however. If Steam catches on, Mac computers could become viable gaming platforms. If that happens, people who aren’t arrogant art majors will buy Macs. This will dilute the user-base, making the odds of running into a Mac user with a real personality much higher.

6 – Bonus reason: Microsoft will finally stop making “I’m a PC” ads
I’m not sure how Steam on the Mac connects to this, but I’m desperate enough that I’ll grasp at anything I can. Please, Bill. Please make it stop.

Jerod Jarvis is an independent gaming journalist and founder of Duality Games. He maintains gaming columns for The Washington Times Communities and for The Outpost. When not blogging madly about games, he freelances for the Spokesman-Review in his hometown of Spokane, Washington and attends school at Whitworth University. Check out his presence on Facebook and Twitter to stay up on Duality Games updates and the inside scoop on the gaming news you care about.