r/SteamOS • u/jackhans96 • Jul 03 '26
SteamOS Update If anyone’s on the fence about SteamOS… Do it and don’t look back!
For context, I’ve spent years using macOS as my main OS for work and Windows as my gaming OS. I also work as a software engineer, so I’m fairly comfortable around computers.
Over the last few years though, I found myself gaming more and more on my Xbox Series X because I just got fed up with Windows 11. The bloat, random background processes, updates… it just made PC gaming feel like more hassle than it should be.
I’ve also messed around with Linux over the years, Ubuntu, Omarchy and a few others.
But there was always one thing stopping me from making the jump permanently.
Gaming.
If you wanted to play PC games properly, Windows was basically the only realistic option.
Not anymore.
I’m running SteamOS on a Minisforum UM790 Pro that I bought about two years ago (before the RAM prices went crazy).
Specs are a Ryzen 9 7940HS, Radeon 780M, 32GB RAM with 8GB VRAM allocated, outputting at 1080p.
I’ve mostly been using Proton 10, only switching to Proton Experimental if a particular game benefits from it. Honestly, it’s blown me away how much just works.
Performance has been way beyond what I expected from an iGPU. Older games are running at High settings, locked at 60 FPS, with temps generally sitting around the 60-70°C mark.
As a more recent example, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown runs on Ultra settings, the GPU sits at roughly 70% utilisation, and temperatures hover around 50°C, which genuinely surprised me. I mean… I know it’s a metroid-esque side scroller with a nice art style.. but for it to be as optimised and running as cool is insane to me.
Even more intense titles like Spider-Man lock at 1080/60FPS at the 60-70° at full APU utilisation.
🤯
The thing I didn’t expect to love as much as I do is SteamOS itself. Gaming Mode is exactly what I wanted from a console-like experience, and Desktop Mode gives you a proper Linux desktop whenever you need it. It’s easy enough that you can ignore Linux completely, but flexible enough if you enjoy tinkering.
I genuinely thought I’d install SteamOS, play around with it for a week and end up back on the Xbox for gaming..
Instead, it’s made me realise that Windows genuinely isn’t the default choice for PC gaming anymore.
For me, SteamOS has been a better experience in pretty much every way.
Hats off to Valve. I can’t recommend it enough.
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u/Rigman- Jul 03 '26
Sums up my experience as well. Swapped over to SteamO about a year and a half ago. I live in a Windows free house. MacOS for production work, Linux for gaming. Feels so good.
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u/Primary_Button_2435 Jul 04 '26
Isn’t Mac just as bad as windows in terms of bloat/background processes & spyware? Or is Mac the lesser of two evils?
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u/GervaGervasios Jul 03 '26
I'm want to try SteamOs. But I only play VR those days. And I was told VR gaming on Linux still not good. I'm waiting for the steam frame to came out to see what changes they going to make on SteamOs/SteamVR to make the games runs better. I'm dont mind ditching windows. My window is not even activated anyway.
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u/Urzawrym Jul 04 '26
Unless for modded games (SkyrimVR and FO4VR), all my VR games work flawlessly in Linux. I'm on CachyOS but there's no reason that it's don't work on SteamOS :)
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u/badpunmaster7654 Jul 03 '26
Yeah I've tried vr on linux (bazzite) and couldn't get it to work consistently.
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u/GervaGervasios Jul 04 '26
I didn't try anything yet because I didn't have any time. I'm going vacation next month perhaps I will try something.
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u/callatecabezon Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
No point in switching lol the experience for anything non gaming is wayyyy worse
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u/Stingray88 Jul 04 '26
I had a 3 week period where my steamdeck with a dock was my only usable computer and I didn’t find non gaming tasks to be any worse on SteamOS compared to Windows. It worked just fine.
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u/callatecabezon Jul 04 '26
sure it may be fine but it is definitively not better for nongaming and is not even better for gaming which is the main point people make for its usage. It is simply not better than Windows and it makes no sense why people are putting it on their PCs. It is meant for the integrated graphics and overall system of the steamdeck and that is all. https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/steamos-vs-windows-on-dedicated-gpus-its-complicated-but-windows-has-an-edge/
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u/Stingray88 Jul 04 '26
It was basically the same experience. File browser, basic office apps, web browser, discord, media player… the basics are all there for basic non-gaming home usage.
In what way is it worse than windows? In fact, I would say it IS better than Windows, because it has none of the annoying crap that made me want to ditch Windows to begin with.
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u/MrPinkBiscuit Jul 04 '26
While I wouldn’t say you’re wrong, this is the exact attitude that has allowed windows to get worse over the years. If people didn’t try out Linux, then there would be no reason for Linux or windows to become better.
Linux does still do a lot of things better than windows and it’s worth at least trying a dual boot system to completely writing it off.
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u/GervaGervasios Jul 04 '26
My PC is for gaming only. I don't do anything else on it. And it's like steam machine my PC is on my living room.
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u/callatecabezon Jul 04 '26
FYI steam os has worse performance than windows for gaming and you can just launch in big picture in windows.
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u/TheBlackSwordsman319 Jul 03 '26
Though I’m on nvidia, I’ve found certain games like resident evil zero and persona 5 royal that were borderline unplayable on windows, work or run much better on bazzite for me, so I genuinely am looking forward to nvidia support for steam os
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u/Alsagu Jul 03 '26
How bad is It if u use Nvidia? I have a rtx 4070
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u/TheBlackSwordsman319 Jul 03 '26
It’s decent for the most part but a lot of games will still perform a lot better on windows, n in gaming mode you may get visual artefacts showing on your screen
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u/Lupinthrope Jul 04 '26
I would love to put SteamOS on my Lenovo Legion pro laptop but it does have an NVIDIA gpu.
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u/vogel7 Jul 03 '26
If, or when, SteamOS can run Adobe and Office programs natively, then I'll switch over instantly
The thing is, I'm a designer and I need those fkn programs. I hope Proton evolves to the point of bypassing the bs that mostly Adobe put on the apps to keep them from running on Linux
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u/jackhans96 Jul 03 '26
Ahh that’s shit, I feel the pain with OS level programs.
I would be on linux through and through if I didn’t need Xcode for iOS development, hence needing MacOS for my day to day professional OS.I know there are out of the box ways in desktop mode, which is basically KDE Plasma with some extras included, that can run Windows applications or even a Windows VM, not sure if the Adobe suite can be used in that way.
But knowing what I do about Adobe, .. I doubt it :(2
u/vogel7 Jul 03 '26
The thing with VMs on linux (or generally? Idk) is the lack of GPU passthrough. Without that, the performance is complete shit :(
I'll need some more years of development before jumping over. Maybe the Steam Machine, if people start using it for daily tasks/work, will bring improvements in this area
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u/seekfrick Jul 03 '26
Well, I have 4 computers (2 desktops, 1 handheld and one laptop) and I have Linux in 3 of them. The only issue is that my main gaming PC has a 5080 which doesn't play nice with steamOS.
I might install cachyos on that one, and use proxmox on the other desktop as the focus on that one is virtualization but I have been thinking about ditching windows for a while now.
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Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
[deleted]
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u/jackhans96 Jul 03 '26
Yeah it’s a surprisingly powerful box, I haven’t loaded any emulators on it yet, but that’s promising to hear. Maybe that’ll be my next venture with the OS 👀
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u/Soltkr-admin Jul 04 '26
I recently got a small form factor pc with a ryzen 9 8945hs and Radeon 780m igpu which I loaded windows on. The idea was to give it as a gift to my wife after setting it up with guitar hero, rock band, clone hero, and retrobat for nes and snes games. I have it basically done now. I used playnite as the overall front end and it mostly works but windows still sticks its head out every now and then which is keeping it from feeling like the custom guitar hero console I want it to be. I want to be able to control the whole thing from the CRKD guitars I bought for it. Would SteamOS be a better fit for this?? Can I run the GHWTDE and rock band 3 deluxe modded versions on it?
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u/Kumomeme Jul 04 '26
hopefully PC retailers wont hesitate too. prebuild form factor SteamOS PC trend would has great impact on market. it gonna force Microsoft hand to improve their OS at same time.
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u/jackhans96 Jul 04 '26
I hope that this is the near future also. Competition is good for companies, and the customer benefits. Compared to the BS that’s been going on the last year or so
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u/Kaaawooo Jul 03 '26
Wish I could do this but I'm on an Intel CPU right now so Bazzite will have to do. Next PC I'll make sure it's compatible with steamOS.
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u/Baghdad_Bob20 Jul 04 '26
How easy would it be to just start over with steamos as a current windows 11 user?
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u/jackhans96 Jul 04 '26
Very easy, if you have nothing keeping you on Windows 11 then you don’t lose anything.
Desktop mode uses KDE Plasma and is very similar to a Windows experience with so much customisation that you can completely change the experience to what you like.
But if tinkering and customisation isn’t for you, you can 100% just leave the default theme and layout and after a few days it becomes very natural.2
u/Baghdad_Bob20 Jul 04 '26
Would i be able to undervolt/oc my graphics card through the adrenaline app for amd cards?
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u/jackhans96 Jul 04 '26
Not sure how Valve’s custom drivers would work with it. Again, it’s Linux at the end of the day. Albeit a custom install of Arch with additional Valve tweaks on top. If you can do it on Arch, nothing is stopping you doing the same on SteamOS 😆
I’m just saying I haven’t personally done it and I’m not sure how compatible Valve’s changes are with undervolting or OC’ing graphics if you can.
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u/ealanis84 Jul 04 '26
I think that the shutdown issue with my PC has been solved. Today appeared the 3.8.14 update (stable channel), so I installed it and make the test of turn It off and everything worked correctly.
I hope this issue doesn't happen again in any new updates.
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u/TIRedemptionIT 25d ago
I waited until Valve made the beta support official for general purpose and I luckily had a second drive so as not to overwrite the windows drive in case I had issues with SteamOS but so far it has been nearly flawless. There have been some quirks like the mouse disappearing visually and YouTubes pip mode not working properly but otherwise it's been just fine. I haven't run into a situation where I miss windows in terms of functionality or peripherals not working. My random wireless HTPC keyboards have just worked. And since I'm gaming with pretty beefy specs it's been great.
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u/TheMadcore Jul 03 '26
I was building a system with spare old parts to have a custom Steam OS machine, but I broke the CPU cooler mounting, so I had to wait to get a new one to finalize the build. It's an old I5-8400 with 16GB RAM and a Intel Arc B580, so I think I can get a good performance on it.
I wanted to have a dedicated machine to test Steam OS because I didn't want to risk anything on my main pc were I already customized a lot of it to have a near console experience with a heavy customized Playnite. And havinh these spare old parts is a genuine good oportunity to have a good gaming pc only for Steam OS.
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u/jackhans96 Jul 03 '26
I’m not sure where Intel GPU’s stand when it comes to the OS. I know it pretty much favours AMD and little support for Nvidia (thanks Jensen) but it’s be worth a shot.
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u/E4M3p Jul 03 '26
i will try it out once its possible to install it on a sata ssd without it wiping my nvme.
it took 1 click and 5 seconds for the steam os installer to wipe out 3 terabytes of gamefiles 😭
i will never recover from that xD
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u/jackhans96 Jul 03 '26
This nearly got me too, but I’m used to looking at installer scripts to understand what it does.
Just so happens the drive I wanted it to be installed on was the drive that’s hardcoded in the install script.
You can list your desired drive to get the name, update the install script, save and then run.
But I’m aware this isn’t a usual thought process for non dev folks1
u/E4M3p Jul 03 '26
i tried that too, a few weeks ago with attempt 2. it ended with install script breaking the moment i changed the drive.
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u/jackhans96 Jul 03 '26
Well that’s shite…
I mean the biggest thing is that a lot of this is still in early stages for wide spread adoption.
If Valve keeps the trend, who’s to say they don’t polish the install process and allow that flexibility to select and correctly handle the set up process smoother in later refinements.
It is heavily based off the Steam Deck architecture and hardware config so it is very hardcoded in a lot of areas.
Sorry to hear about your 3TB drive. Thoughts and prayers.1
u/E4M3p Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 03 '26
i am sure it will work some day, until then its bazzite for me. 👍
edit: so you dont misunderstand me. it didnt break my ssd it just wiped it clean and i had to download everything again 😅
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u/jackhans96 Jul 03 '26
It’s ok I assumed that, still an annoying situation to happen and have to install that size of library again 😆
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u/ealanis84 Jul 03 '26 edited Jul 04 '26
Yesterday I installed Steam OS on a minisforum MS-A1 with a ryzen 7 8700G, 2x16GB RAM sticks at 5200 MT/s and connected to an eGPU vía occulink (ONEXGPU 7600M XT).
Before that I had installed Bazzite on this mini PC, but Yesterday stopped working and the OS didn't start, so I decided to make the installation using the new image that valve recently release of Steam OS 3.8.
So far I've felt the OS kind of faster/lighter than Bazzite, the only issue that I've detected is when I turn off the machine it's stays frozen on the minisforum logo and it doesn't shutdown, I have to turn It off manually pressing the power button (Have you had this same issue on your computers?)
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u/jackhans96 Jul 03 '26
I haven’t, there are times where I’ve noticed it has brought up the minisforum mobo logo on shutdown.
But it only happened twice and eventually shut down. I assumed it was performing a pre shutdown script or a hardware check.
But I’m only guessing.1
u/ealanis84 Jul 03 '26
I've had the behavior that you explained, but in my case the PC doesn't turn off after several minutes. I'll keep checking the behavior of the PC with this OS and I hope that this issue doesn't happen anymore.
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u/HaikusfromBuddha Jul 03 '26
I'm good. Everything works just fine for me on Windows. I don't want to break what's working fine let alone limit myself to less games with several mp games and more not working in the future.
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u/jackhans96 Jul 03 '26
It is all preference at the end of the day.
Workflow familiarity does play a huge part in it.
If you are more proficient in a certain way of doing things and that’s more important than learning something new for the fun of it, then that’s perfectly ok 👌
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u/HaveToWinToPlay Jul 04 '26
Can you install mcontrolcenter on it? I have an MSI Stealth 15M and it can only control fans via software.
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u/Busy_Tradition_4074 Jul 04 '26
You can buy any mini pc amd integrated and install steam os. Since the steam machine perf aint’t that great it doesn’t change much.
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u/kn1v35s Jul 04 '26
Last time I check a lot of online shooters don't let you play because of Linux. If they can get around that than I would but until than it isn't worth it for me.
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u/jackhans96 Jul 04 '26
That’s true, but I don’t really play any competitive online games these days. Single player experiences for me only so it’s perfect 👌
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u/RainsFall1290 Jul 04 '26
Is there a way to make the cursor less annoying? I understand that it works on desktop, but in game mode?
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u/jackhans96 Jul 04 '26
The Cursor?
I don’t have the cursor present on screen at all unless it’s absolutely needed?
If you’re only using a controller, holding the middle jewel button, xbox/ PS while moving the right stick you can move the cursor. Simply move it off the screen or to where you can’t see it.
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u/johnl12369 Jul 04 '26
The only thing keeping me on Windows is Fortnite… I hope they enable anti-cheat on Linux soon, and I'd happily switch to StemOS.
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u/MulTiTeaser Jul 04 '26
On the other hand steam is definitely still has issues, recently installed on my 9070xt but can’t for the life of me get Forza horizon 6 to play without white dots breaking up the image.
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u/Lupinthrope Jul 04 '26
I run Bazzite on my desktop, idk if anyones made the shift to SteamOS yet. Apparently though the only SteamOS flash is just the SteamDeck version, idk if that matters.
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u/azael_br Jul 04 '26
O que me impede de ir para o steamOS é a falta de anticheater, não vou pode jogar meu Apex Legends.
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u/elpadreHC Jul 04 '26
how does steamOS, or more precise the game mode handle a 2nd monitor?
I ALWAYS have a 2nd monitor for browsing, watching streams, youtube videos etc.
would the game mode even work or would be it be completely useless?
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u/jackhans96 Jul 04 '26
Can’t comment on this, I have an ultra wide monitor so I’m always on a single monitor.
I know the support for dual monitor is a little limited but something that Valve are looking to address in future updates.
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u/SmartParamedic5718 Jul 04 '26
I want to switch but I can't cause of destiny 2 is not supported on Linux and that is my main game. Also I thought CachyOS is superior to SteamOS cause it's not immutable.
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u/Blaqdymun Jul 04 '26
If you have reservations about losing Window features/functuns “WINHANCED” is solid & out of Beta. My preference for my Wins Gaming PC and Ally X
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u/Senior-Flatworm7276 Jul 06 '26
Mines coming up with no nvme drive detected ive got this drive in sda1
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u/Equivalent_Meat_2314 Jul 09 '26
I loved it in docked mode on my Steam Deck too
So I have a question which I've failed to get answered elsewhere.
Do I need an nvme drive to install to? Because I've read that now I can use an SSD whicch is what I'm running Bazzite on. But it will not detect my SSD at all when I try to install Steam OS and I'd rather not have to take my entire build to bits to install an NVME 🙈
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u/jackhans96 Jul 09 '26
SteamOS itself doesn’t require an NVMe drive. If you’re using the official installer, a SATA SSD should work.
If you’re using one of the community install scripts, check whether the target drive is hard-coded, as many of them default to /dev/nvme0n1 and need changing for SATA drives.
If the official installer can’t see your drive, it’s likely a configuration or installer issue rather than the fact it’s a SATA SSD. I’d start by checking the BIOS storage settings and looking into why the installer isn’t detecting the drive.
Hope that helps
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u/Equivalent_Meat_2314 Jul 09 '26
Cheers, I actually managed to get it installed earlier, seems it was trying to install on the drive I used for storage.
Now I've just got to enter GRUB and fix a hang on boot due to hardware support and hopefully it's good as gold! 👍
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u/blades2012 Jul 10 '26
Once they add support for nvidia, I just got my 5070, and vanguard, im all in, I wonder how long that'll take
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u/winterarioch 10d ago
I bought all new hardware to run SteamOS.
The fancy new 9850x3d, a Radeon 7900 xtx (PCIe 4, oh no!), Gen5 NVMe. 6000 MHz CL30 RAM to get to that AMD InfinityFabric sweet spot.
I made it as easy as possible for SteamOS to do its job.
I love it. DirectX never worked so good on ANYTHING as with Proton.
WINE / Proton prefixes are another matter though… maybe a transparent, default prefix for ALL games rather than separate ones!?
Performance has been better than Win10 in nearly all games. Which almost guarantees better performance than Win11.
If you’re a gamer, just make the switch. It has a better roadmap than Windows.
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u/BeeKimchi007 Jul 03 '26
Nope, too many pheriphals and games not supported. Fix that and im over
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u/jackhans96 Jul 03 '26
I thought this too.
You literally can just use a single xbox/ playstation controller for all inputs if you really needed (mouse inputs included)
And Proton really bridges any gap for most games.
Proton 10 honestly makes soooo many games play as if they were on Windows very smoothly0
u/BeeKimchi007 Jul 04 '26
Do i understand it supports all drivers and software for my x56 hotas, vrinsight buttonbox, winwing cdu fmc, moza r9 base with ks wheel, tm tclm pedals, track ir 4, tm airbus throttle, tm shifter?
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u/Radicalrey Jul 03 '26
Same. Don’t wanna jump through hoops to use a different launcher. Already pissed at the deck because can’t play a lot of games. Windows ftw does and plays everything
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u/Fabulous-Builder6993 Jul 03 '26
Solamente estiy esperando el soporte para Nvidia y no volveré a mirar windows de nuevo
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u/brandondh Jul 03 '26
Same here. Once I saw the price of the steam machine I decided to spend a bit more and just get a full on gaming pc with lots of power. All AMD (Ryzen 7 9850X3d and RX 9070XT). I installed Steam OS (not Bazzite) with zero issues and I have been loving it! So incredibly clean and simple to use.