Valve has confirmed that it is working on bringing SteamOS support to rival handheld devices like the ROG Ally. Dual booting into Windows on the Steam Deck is still far away, though.
Any particular reason you would want SteamOS on a desktop over any other distro? It’s pretty much designed for console use, I would not recommend it elsewhere.
Because you want the console experience? A PC can be hooked to a TV as easily as a console, but it’s way more fiddly way more often without appropriate software support.
Ooc, does big picture mode on a Linux distro satisfy such a requirement? I’m not sure if you have have a system start into this mode on Linux, I’m fairly sure it can be done on Windows.
I’m also not sure if BPM on Linux has the same level of integration with power management controls and HUD etc, but I’d imagine it’s mostly there?
This is what I’ve done for years. It just auto starts after OS launch in big picture and I grab my controller. Occasionally I have my wireless keyboard for something but it works fine.
I don’t own a steam deck they’re not available from valve here in Australia. So I’m sure I’m missing out on some polish. But I’ve never seen it so I don’t miss it.
People come over, sit on the couch, grab a controller, steam is loaded, they play game. The OS and then steam is out of the way in a flash. After all I’m after the game not the launcher.
Bazzite is basically exactly this already. If you have an AMD gpu you can boot straight into steam. The desktop mode uses KDE like the Steam Deck and the package manager makes it much easier to layer in additional system packages which is kind of a pain on the Deck. Plus there are some additional gaming specific tweaks popularized by tools like cryoutility included by default.
Much easier to bring it to a handful of carefully chosen devices with standardized hardware first. Also there are great distros for desktops that essentially do the same already, like Bazzite, ChimeraOS and Nobara
Do you have any experience with these? I’m not out here looking to be a master penguin, I just desperately want to play to games, maybe with some mods, without having to dedicate 3 hours to tech support every single time I launch
I’ve been testing Bazzite out on a variety of hardware. It’s very easy to setup and required no additional fiddling at all to get working, even with an Nvidia card which is the usual source of Linux gaming frustrations.
If you’re used to the limitations of the Steam Deck OS and haven’t had any issues there then you should have a good experience with Bazzite which is presented in a very similar way even if it’s a little different under the hood.
I’ve used ChimeraOS a while back. From what I heard Bazzite should be on a similar level to SteamOS, so if you’re okay with the limitations of a Steam Deck and just want that on your PC then you might want to try Bazzite. That being said that’s an OS for a PC that will be a console, just like SteamOS, it’s not a general purpose Linux and you might get issues trying to do day-to-day stuff on it.
Also I don’t know how you install mods, if it’s via steam workshop they should work flawlessly, if you need something else you might have to jump through some hoops to get it, but again it’s the same hoops you would need on SteamOS.
and pc, when?
Any particular reason you would want SteamOS on a desktop over any other distro? It’s pretty much designed for console use, I would not recommend it elsewhere.
Because you want the console experience? A PC can be hooked to a TV as easily as a console, but it’s way more fiddly way more often without appropriate software support.
Ooc, does big picture mode on a Linux distro satisfy such a requirement? I’m not sure if you have have a system start into this mode on Linux, I’m fairly sure it can be done on Windows.
I’m also not sure if BPM on Linux has the same level of integration with power management controls and HUD etc, but I’d imagine it’s mostly there?
You can boot to it, and disable lock screen, but it feels OK but meaningfully worse on Linux, and awful on Windows.
It’s worth it for a dual purpose machine, but for a dedicated gaming system a purpose built OS has value.
Fair enough, appreciate the insight
This is what I’ve done for years. It just auto starts after OS launch in big picture and I grab my controller. Occasionally I have my wireless keyboard for something but it works fine.
I don’t own a steam deck they’re not available from valve here in Australia. So I’m sure I’m missing out on some polish. But I’ve never seen it so I don’t miss it.
People come over, sit on the couch, grab a controller, steam is loaded, they play game. The OS and then steam is out of the way in a flash. After all I’m after the game not the launcher.
Glad it works for you. Couch Co-op feeling like such a rarity these days.
But now you need to run 2 pcs instead of just one.
Why would I game in my office when my couch down stairs in front of a 70 inch TV is so much more comfortable and has no work available to do on it?
Wrong thread?
Valve gaming polish, I primarily use my home PC for gaming and I feel like a distro Valve makes would be best suited and supported for that.
Steam Deck works just fine in desktop mode with mouse and keyboard.
Bazzite is basically exactly this already. If you have an AMD gpu you can boot straight into steam. The desktop mode uses KDE like the Steam Deck and the package manager makes it much easier to layer in additional system packages which is kind of a pain on the Deck. Plus there are some additional gaming specific tweaks popularized by tools like cryoutility included by default.
Didn’t know about this. Saving for later
Much easier to bring it to a handful of carefully chosen devices with standardized hardware first. Also there are great distros for desktops that essentially do the same already, like Bazzite, ChimeraOS and Nobara
Do you have any experience with these? I’m not out here looking to be a master penguin, I just desperately want to play to games, maybe with some mods, without having to dedicate 3 hours to tech support every single time I launch
I’ve been testing Bazzite out on a variety of hardware. It’s very easy to setup and required no additional fiddling at all to get working, even with an Nvidia card which is the usual source of Linux gaming frustrations.
If you’re used to the limitations of the Steam Deck OS and haven’t had any issues there then you should have a good experience with Bazzite which is presented in a very similar way even if it’s a little different under the hood.
I’ve used ChimeraOS a while back. From what I heard Bazzite should be on a similar level to SteamOS, so if you’re okay with the limitations of a Steam Deck and just want that on your PC then you might want to try Bazzite. That being said that’s an OS for a PC that will be a console, just like SteamOS, it’s not a general purpose Linux and you might get issues trying to do day-to-day stuff on it.
Also I don’t know how you install mods, if it’s via steam workshop they should work flawlessly, if you need something else you might have to jump through some hoops to get it, but again it’s the same hoops you would need on SteamOS.
Not exactly SteamOS but https://chimeraos.org/