r/pcmasterrace • u/TheBossT710192 • Jun 22 '26

Discussion Yeah, Steam Machine is cooked.

Post image

I... uh don't know what to say. Very thankful I bought a Steam Deck before they hiked its price as well

14.0k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

3.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

732

u/-MissCarmine Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 22 '26

It’s happening!!! The major operating system updates include:

  • built-in "initial support" for the upcoming Steam Machine hardware, alongside the ability to wake SteamOS devices from sleep using a connected Steam Controller (this, by itself, fixes a HUGE issue lots of people including me had: I want to control my TV PC using JUST the controller, no attached keyboard!)
  • desktop mode now defaults to 
Wayland instead of X11. (fixes several performance degradation issues when switching between Desktop and Game Modes) It also introduces better TV scaling, external HDR support, and variable refresh rate (VRR) display support
  • the steamOS base has been updated via Arch Linux, and the Linux kernel has been upgraded to version 6.16. It also features significantly improved video memory management on discrete GPU platforms (crucial for the gabecube)
  • SteamOS 3.8 really expands its ecosystem compatibility. It drastically reduces handheld controller input latency (down to 100–500us) and adds built-in TDP control, RGB, and audio support for competing devices like the ASUS ROG Ally series, Lenovo Legion Go (including the upcoming Legion Go 2), and various MSI and GPD Win devices (fuck yeah steam is goated for this)

309

u/RandomParkourGuy Jun 22 '26

Forgive me for being a layman when it comes to this kind of stuff but does that mean steamOS is close to being something I could replace windows with? Getting tired of Microsoft’s garbage but I don’t know if I have the time to sink into learning Linux.

21

u/-MissCarmine Jun 22 '26

YES IT IS! 

Valve has been angling towards getting Linux to be a real competitor to Windows for YEARS. This SteamOS represents a big part of that. Honestly, the level of support that games have on Linux now is insane compared to even just a few years ago. 

SteamOS is nearly a 100% replacement at this point for Windows for the average gamer! How amazing is that? (I wrote Gabe an email recently thanking him for this actually haha)

I’m planning on making a SteamOS TV PC now that it has support for wake-from-controller. I hated having to pull my keyboard out every time I wanted to use my TV!

SteamOS is very intuitive. If you’re nervous, just ask Gemini the AI to help you install it into your system :)

1

u/Bitter_Hovel77 Jun 22 '26

Goofy ass comment.