We're switching over to
Steam Pipe. Here's what that means for you.
If you run a server
If you run a server then the way you download and update the server is going to change. The old way won't work anymore.
The new way is
described here. There's also plenty of detail on Valve's wiki.
If you play Garry's Mod
For the player the initial switchover will be the hardest part. Any addons you have manually installed might not get carried over - so you might want to back up your Garry's Mod folder before making the switch.
You will get some benefits though. Load times should be vastly reduced. Updates will be more frequent. There will be a development branch that you can opt into to receive bleeding edge updates. You'll be able to choose which hard drive you want to install onto.
If you mod Garry's Mod
Modding will be a bit easier in the new system. All of the files are extracted to disk instead of being in a gcf. This means you can easily browse the files to see how stuff is done.
The development branch will be better for modders - because requests can be added instantly. Your addon or gamemode can be tested with the development branch and problems can be found before we ship the update to the release branch.
