I personally prefer solo play in MMOs. This is mostly because I play them for the role-playing experience in many cases, and it's sometimes hard to find other people interested in that. So solo is the way to go. I also go through a lot of demos, so …
From what I understand, you can always download the client for free from the EVE Online website. If you buy it on Steam, that simply gets you a month of time in addition to the client.
So to answer your question, yes. If you buy it on steam, …