Bye-bye Windows gaming? SteamOS officially expands past the Steam Deck

I was a console gamer for a long, long time just because I refuse to use Microsoft products, and Linux gaming was fraught except for Battle for Wesnoth and Nethack. Many hours just messing with Wine vs I turn on the machine and the game just starts, no fuss.

I've owned a Steam Deck not quite since day 1, I'm beyond delighted now that I can just buy and play Steam games. I think I've thrown maybe one game at Proton that I just couldn't get working. And things like the Heroic launcher have made GoG games (most of which already ran on Linux since they just run via DOSBox) easier than ever.

Anyone on the fence about keeping Windows around just for games: unless you play online multiplayer that uses kernel anti-cheat, just make the jump. I promise you, almost every game in your library will just work, and almost all of the rest will work after you set them to run with a specific Proton version.

I bought an Asus Rog Ally X on a recent trip to NYC (i'm not from the US, and the steam deck isn't sold on regular retailers).

I can't believe how awful the user interface is, they are bascially installing windows 11 in a computer shaped as a portable console, with really small icons and imprecise touch controls, onedrive and microsoft 365 offers, crazy.

If you can install Steam OS on it, all those consolized PCs will end up using native Steam OS, and the next step is the living room (console like desktop pcs).

Microsoft must be really thinking about an Xbox OS, or at least a native and usable gaming interface for windows 11. Valve is trying to remove microsoft as a dependency for their bussines. And i think microsoft sees valve as it's bigger competitor on the gaming space, not Playstation as everyone thinks, that's why they are going with the "everything is an Xbox" ads and rumors about "third party xboxes".

I very rarely play games, and for long time I had dedicated windows installation just for steam and friends.

This was always annoying experience to reboot, hunt for grub, then half year of windows updates until I was able to enjoy my free time.

But thanks to proton, I don't remember anymore when was last time I had to do that, everything just works great on Linux ootb including titles like cyberpunk.

For people wanting dedicated (console like) gaming machine steam os looks really promising.

As a Mac user, I've only been able to watch the Proton improvements from the sidelines. I'm happy to see them but can't make use of them.

On the other hand, GeForce Now is what let me get rid of Windows and my gaming desktop altogether. For the supported games, it's a truly superb experience, launching into max graphics with a single click. I don't have to install or upgrade anything (patches or drivers) or worry about hardware obsolescence. It's insanely powerful (RTX 4080 equivalent), has no local heat or noise, and barely sips battery life (compute is all in the cloud).

Completely changed the way I game. And this is as someone who grew up on BBS door games and configuring sound blaster and vmem in config.sys. GFN is so so nice and much better than dealing the nightmare that is modern Windows. And a lot easier than managing Proton and WINE too. Nothing beats it for sheer ease of use when I just want to game for a few hours without headaches.

I have a steam deck. Its incredibly easy to switch from game mode to “desktop mode” and get a full blown, portable linux device! Its fucking incredible.

Gaming has been mostly good. You can trust the steam verification badge. Some games just won’t work but most do.

This is amazing news. I wonder if this means we’re going to see a TV/home console with Steam OS soon.

I am currently borrowing a friend’s Steam Deck to try it out. It’s absolutely amazing, particularly around starting and stopping gaming sessions.

The only thing holding be back from buying it is that the processing power is a couple of years outdated at this point. It still works fine for older AAA games (or newer lighter games), but it can’t keep up with new AAA.

Having the option of newer hardware with the Steam OS experience is amazing!

You don't need to wait for Valve to get this experience today. The HTPC build of Bazzite [1] brings an experience identical to SteamOS to all computers with an AMD or Intel GPU from the past 8 years or so.

It works amazingly well and I can't imagine going back to Windows for a PC that is built only for video games. I use it on my "Gaming HTPC" (Ryzen 3600, Radeon RX6600, Fractal Design Node 202) and it brings a great console experience to my TV, with access to my PC game library, without being locked into a console ecoystem, and without the enormous cruft and user hostility that Windows has you manage these days.

I'm a pretty casual and patient gamer, and for that use case this Steam machine experience is unmatched - despite being built on desktop Linux, it works out of the box and requires zero manual maintenance. For dedicated gaming boxes this Linux user experience is significantly better and easier to use than Windows - we're truly living in the future.

[1]: https://bazzite.gg

[2]: It's built on top of Fedora and Universal Blue, so under the hood it's different from SteamOS which is built on a custom immutable version of Arch Linux. However, that implementation detail is actually almost totally irrelevant if you want to play games since all software is managed by Steam and Flatpak on both systems.

Microsoft won’t care.

Microsoft lost interest in Windows. It doesn’t care what windows users want, it just wants to wring every dime out of it with crap ware and artificial restrictions on hardware so you can’t run it in your perfectly capable old machines.

It’s time for better options on the Intel platform.

There is no bye to Windows gaming, because the casual PC gamer will still use Windows and won’t bother with SteamOS, and rightfully so, because why bother? If you can’t handle Windows, then certainly you won’t be able to live with Linux as your main system.

Windows just works for gaming and all connected devices. SteamOS maybe works well for dedicated handhelds, but I can’t imagine a casual user bothering with Linux and wondering why the newly bought xyz Bluetooth device doesn’t work on it.

I wonder if Microsoft will start offering discount Windows licenses for gaming handhelds to push back against this, like how they used to offer dirt cheap licenses for netbooks when they were popular.

This makes me hopeful that more online games will be pushed to supporting Linux. Most recently it has been very surprising to find out that Marvel Rivals is making sure they support Linux gamers. Unfortunately there's still a lot of high profile games that won't run on Linux, the most notable examples for me being League of Legends and Fortnite. These games have huge communities, and their games are already available on other platforms, so it's not like they're designed with platform exclusivity in mind. Honestly, Linux gaming has been an outstandingly positive experience for me.

I remember a number of years back when Steam started Proton thing, it didn't look very promising. Since then it evolved into an actual OS, it would be amazing if Valve could pull this off and expand Linux gaming into mainstream devices and maybe even PCs.

My prediction:

If the SteamOS version of the portable gaming handhelds start to outsell the Windows variants because of the lower price, Microsoft will probably offer to subsidize the cost of the Windows 11 license in the handhelds to bring their cost to parity with the SteamOS devices, in exchange for a promise from the manufacturer that the hardware line will not include a SteamOS offering.

The important part for me

> A promised beta version of SteamOS will be released publicly before May, Valve said, "which should improve the experience on other devices, and users can download and test this themselves. And of course we'll continue adding support and improving the experience with future releases."

so if you want this to build a custom SteamOS machine, presumably May it is!

Wasn't SteamOS around long before the Steam Deck? I remember Valve releasing their custom Linux distro back when they were promoting the "Steam Machine" concept.

Here’s the classic clip from 2014 where Linus Torvalds says Valve will save the Linux desktop: https://youtu.be/Pzl1B7nB9Kc?t=309

I've always loved gaming and one thing that never sat well with me was that gaming's home was unofficially on a proprietary OS. It always made more sense to me (particularly from a software preservation standpoint) that the home of gaming should be on an open-source OS. And truth be told, I have in fact encountered a few games now that will no longer run on Windows but will still work great on Wine/Proton. I'm sure there will be more of those over time.

Windows gaming is way, WAY bigger than Steam!

How is SteamOS install different from just installing Steam on Linux?

Windows is really only around in our household so the kids can occasionally play Minecraft with other kids that use tablets. Without that, Windows is gone, and good riddance. It's always 10X more difficult to deal with than either macOS or Linux.

The article mentions some prices but never presents an apples to apples comparison between the price for a similarly configured device with windows and steamOS.

I’m curious to know how much Microsoft charges for these licenses

The other day I flipped a switch somewhere in Steam on Linux and games previously marked as "Available for Windows" suddenly started installing and, more importantly, working.

I dare say this is a game changer.

I would love for Linux gaming to take off and displace Windows. The current direction is very promising, but there has been roadblocks. Notably, Respawn decided to forbid Linux users last year[0].

0: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1gh3aik/apex_legends...

I have a living room PC I use for couch gaming. I'm waiting for SteamOS to be compatible with it! (nvidia gpu) I'll 100% install SteamOS on there ASAP.

Linux gaming became pretty good on PC too. Steam and Proton was a significant driver here as well, and we now have completely open-source Steam Proton-like solution too, the Heroic Launcher. Can highly recommend, really easy to set up, and adding a Windows game to it is literally just a few clicks. Same with trying different Proton or Wine packages, you just change the package, and try running it, same as Steam.

Linux gaming is great. Running Bazzite myself, but for proper support you should run full AMD (CPU and GPU). Nvidia drivers seem to be a pain in the arse.

Does Adobe Lightroom run in proton these days? Would be amazing if one could use SteamOS for photo editing and such.

I have been using https://cachyos.org/ with the "Handheld" build with great success for the last 3 months. Best of both worlds, Arch Linux for work and Steam for gaming (as long as the game is Steam Deck compatible).

I would buy a steam deck instantly if there was some good external GPU support. Like a dock that has a PCI-E port, or maybe even just a dock that already comes with a high end GPU.

Does anyone know if titles like FIFA/FC25 work seamlessly on linux devices with proton / whatever the best gaming software is? I remember Wine having a lot of trouble with past FIFA titles.

I can’t wait for Windows’ monopoly on PC gaming to end after the atrocious windows 11 and them trying to force recall.

If Steam OS can run productivity software like 3ds max, maya, photoshop and etc. I will leave windows and never look back.

Dang, never thought Windows dominance will be upended by gaming.

I mean, if they add a code editor, terminal, and browser to steam, that should be it (at least for me). I guess I could just use a cloud IDE.

There really is absolutely nothing about Windows I use other than clicking games on Steam.

Gamers keep Windows relevant and fresh. Once we’re gone, it really will be a legacy OS that people still use because their printer won’t work with shit else.

I have a collection of games on steam going back decades, its the only thing keeping me on windows these days; really excited to see this in action.

I won’t switch to Linux for gaming until there’s a Linux version of Reshade. And, no, vkBasalt is not the same.

First they ignore you

.. then they laugh at you

.. then they fight you

.. then you win.

This comes from an old Red Hat Linux advert, likely way back to the late 1990s. At the end of the advert it says "you are here" which shows an old-style plane (before commercial) about to take off. Point is its just a matter of time it leaves the ground and "about to win"

Love or hate GNU/Linux, but it has been extremely successful and while not a winner in the desktop field - it has on servers!

Many people would never believe Linux getting the popularity it deserves. Of course things are changing - though slowly. Here we have Linux getting the love it needs as a serious gaming system anf Microsoft making some poor decision in the last couple of years especially with Windows.

Still a long way to go, especially breaking into the corporate world. Imagine - we could be seeing business laptops/desktops slowing gaining in Linux rather than Windows. That is not going to be easy. Again, it is not about Linux -- but the SOFTWARE. If the Office-space software and tools get more love in the Linux world, Microsoft start to focus away from their Windows platform and be purely about Software/Azure focus.

"You are here" -- getting closer off the ground!

[dupe] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42625139

Legion Go owner here. I bought a "Windows gaming" device specifically because I have a library of games that spans across multiple vendors, not just Steam. Not only does my Legion Go have a decent "unified UI" for launching games, I can easily launch Steam in Big Picture mode. Touch on Windows 11 is surprisingly decent.

The only downside to all of these new portable gaming are the docks, and the living room experience. "HDMI out" usually works (depending on the game), but it's not as seamless as simply hitting power on your PS5/Xbox. I spend way too much time fiddling with graphics settings, and second/mirror/display issues.