I'm of the opinion that you will have a better experience in November than the guys in October. I'm guessing it will take some time for solid bindings get going on certain titles, but I'd also expect a bunch of updates and fixes since the thing is so software driven and Valve typically need to do that stuff over time.
I'm not sure why your bothering. If you only play controller based games, are happy with analogue sticks for mouse look with auto aim assistance, browsing, messaging etc, are happy to use a keyboard and mouse when that is all that will work even in a lounge setting and have no interest in playing mouse + keyboard oriented PC games that won't work with a controller, there is little benefit to get from the Steam Controller. Otherwise it is a solution to a long standing issue. Whether it is good enougg or not is anyone's guess
As for Link, that is only useful if you don't have a separate machine for streaming or if you want something super portable to place as a streaming device. The Xbox One will inevitably do PC game streaming, if it will be any good or not will only be known whenever people get it.