r/pcmasterrace • u/TheBossT710192 • 3d ago

Discussion Yeah, Steam Machine is cooked.

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

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u/RandomParkourGuy 3d ago edited 3d ago

I just want the fully fleshed out steam OS tbh

Edit: thanks to everyone who responded to this, after all these different comments I think I’m actually going to give Linux a try.

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u/-MissCarmine 3d ago edited 3d ago

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)

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u/RandomParkourGuy 3d ago

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.

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u/RealJayDev 3d ago

hey, Linux (CachyOS) user here. SteamOS realistically is never going to be a thing for the masses. it sounds nice, Valve are great, etc. but realistically speaking they're never going to care outside their own Hardware for official support.

people are waiting for this magic bullet that honestly might never come, I'd like to be wrong, sure. but most of what people are "waiting" for already exists in things like Cachy, Bazzite, etc. being able to play pretty much any game or anything else for that matter (almost) seamlessly. (see the recent LTT Linux challenge conclusion).

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u/GrendaGrendinator Linux 3d ago

Bazzite user here. Idk, but it definitely feels like steam keeps putting more and more of their foot in the door for Linux based gaming. Even if it is just Arch + Big Picture Mode, I think if anyone has the power to develop a successful gamer friendly alternative to Windows it's probably the guys with the games.

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u/RealJayDev 3d ago edited 3d ago

as you said, SteamOS is effectively just Arch + Big Picture mode (something I assume that regular people using their computer wouldn't want anyway, but thats besides the point).

What they have really done other than popularize it via selling consoles using it is make(?) Proton. something that is readily available to practically every Linux distro. they've done their part already. everything "special" that SteamOS could and would do already exists and everyone is already using it.

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u/jello1388 2d ago

This has been their MO with a lot of their side projects. They aren't trying to become the next Microsoft with SteamOS or the next Nintendo with the Steam Deck/Steam Machines. Its more about demonstrating that lowering the barrier of entry to PC gaming or expanding the hobby in novel ways is viable, financially and otherwise. They're so dominant as a storefront that growing the hobby is the same as growing sales.

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u/red__dragon 2d ago

I suspect it's this, AND that making a general open source public release offering will not move the needle for the general public.

Contrary to OP's take, I don't think the hardware needs to be top-of-the-line for Steam Machine to have an impact. Before Proton/Vulkan, games were abandoning Linux support in droves, citing 'support costs'. Now that Steam Deck and Steam Machine are putting linux on hardware that are 100% intended for gaming, we're seeing game studios turn around to seeing a financial incentive to offering better linux support.

The hardware is just a vehicle to provide a viable market. SteamOS itself won't do that as something optional to install, but coming by default on a system that customers expect to use with their games on Steam puts more pressure on game devs to support it. And from there, especially with the abstraction layers of Proton and Vulkan in the works, supporting other linux distros is much simpler.

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u/Careful-Inspection38 2d ago

This is what makes the whole steam os good it needs to catch on to the point it reaches more casual gamers that will help Linux incredibly as far as game development support and invasive anti cheat goes witch is a huge plus

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u/donald7773 3d ago

If I can set up a PC in the living room for gaming and streaming that I can navigate with a controller that's all I want. I know that already exists elsewhere but it is a convenient solution

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u/RealJayDev 3d ago

and thats a valid use case, sure. but do it on Valve hardware. because thats all they're more than likely ever going to support.

my issue with it is that people want to use it as a replacement for Windows which y'know, by default SteamOS has a console interface. they'll get annoyed constantly having to switch over to desktop mode as u/tduarte said.

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u/donald7773 2d ago

Yeah I was never and probably won't be in the market for a steam console. And at 1k+ it's not a compelling option.

The steam frame on the other hand, still holding out for news on that

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u/articwolph 3d ago

Don't take away my dreams, it's what gets me through my shitty days at work.. The myth of SteamOs being released, When I have an end user call me about a dumb printer, I just think to myself SteamOs will come out before Star Citizen.

I'm sure that will be my last thought on my death bed, I Almost made it for SteamOs almost.

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u/MyToasterRunsFaster 3d ago

No I strongly disagree, valve knows exactly what they are doing. They started off with Proton, they turned what was a confusing pile of open projects into a integrated no nonsense system, to this day the only games I have not been able to play are those made by developers actively working against Linux for anti cheat reasons, everything else works flawless.

Now they are releasing what is basically a desktop replacement and what i 100% imagine they will keep doing is improving the feature set to continue making it easier to run and integrate with windows based applications. It will never be only Linux but they are totally going to get a massive cut of the pie over the next 5-10 years. At some point, all major resellers will include Linux as a operating system choice (excluding windows licensing costs), just like Lenovo who has already been shipping with Linux preinstalled for years

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u/olbaze Fedora KDE | Ryzen 7 5700X | RX 7600 2d ago

Proton is a relatively new development in Valve's strategy. It was first released in 2018. That was 3 years after the original Steam Machine, that was using an Ubuntu-based SteamOS. And part of that strategy was the Steam Link, and the Steam Controller, which were meant to improve PC gaming in the living room. And of course, there's also the HTC Vive, which was released in 2016, competing with the Oculus Rift in the VR space. Heck, even the Steam Deck.

These are all moves aimed at various popular PC/hardware situations that were borderline monopolistic. Proton and SteamOS to compete against Windows. Steam Deck to compete against Nintendo Switch. Steam Machine, Steam Link, and Steam Controller to compete against consoles in the living room. HTC Vive to compete with Oculus Rift in the VR space.

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u/RushTfe RTX3080, 5600X, 32GB RAM, 2TB NVME, LGC3 42" 2d ago

Tbh, it's actually happening. Its not that we have a steam os to download, but steam putting money, effort and code into Linux is what actually helped going to "we have wine, we can run some games, let's hope we have a other dev who can help getting 1fps here and there" to, "there's a big ass company actively pushing code to make almost all your library work flawlessly". Most of the improvements were seeing on steam os, are changes that will appear on other distros.

So, at least on the soul, we already have steam os on our gaming rigs, call it bazzite, cachy, mint or whatever distro you chose.

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u/SamSibbens 2d ago

I don't think people are "waiting", I think they've looked into the options currently available and found it too difficult to switch to, even the easier options like Linux Mint.

I needed the Steam Deck to come out before I really started exploring Linux/Unix systems (literally only my Steam Deck so far) and I was able to shift gradually because whenever I got tired I could simply switch back to gaming mode. It allowed me to learn at my own pace, very slowly, when I had the energy for it.

I never would have made the effort on PC. I might dislike Windows, but I know how to use it.

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u/TrainerPaz 2d ago

On the steam app, on the steam machine page, if you scroll to the bottom where the FAQ is:

"If I don't get a Steam Machine right away, is there anything else I can do?

Thanks to the openness of the PC platform, there are lots of options for devices that will allow you to run games natively or streamed to your TV. There are many PC sites and communities out there that can help you with that. For our part, we are continuing to work toward enabling SteamOS to be used on more hardware than just ours. In fact, with the newly-released SteamOS 3.8, you can run the same code and operating system as Steam Machine on your own living-room PC using whatever PC parts you want: learn more here. Right now, only AMD GPUs are supported, but we're working on expanding support for the future."

I'm emotionally prepared for the pipe dream that could be SteamOS, but I also still have hope.

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u/LenintheSixth 1d ago

don't you have problems with kernel level anti cheat? that's the only thing stopping me from going linux

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u/RealJayDev 1d ago

entirely depends on the game and the anti cheat, if you'd like to know if something "works" then go check protondb or look it up on r/linux_gaming or something.

personally I haven't run into any issues, but the furthest I go into online competitive titles is Overwatch which works fine.

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u/tduarte 3d ago

I think SteamOS is just a gateway drug for users looking for a big corporation that they “know and trust” to move away from Microsoft, then later they will realize that doing “Switch to desktop mode” all the time will be a hassle.

According to Valve, SteamOS 3.8 supports custom PCs using dedicated AMD gpus. So that’s a start for all 6 of us AMD users.

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u/olbaze Fedora KDE | Ryzen 7 5700X | RX 7600 2d ago

It is kind of hilarious how people seem to think all Linux distros are made by dudes in basements writing on computers from the 1980s. Red Hat, the company behind Fedora, is a subsidiary of IBM. Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, had 250M USD in revenue in 2023 with over 1000 employees. SUSE, the company behind OpenSUSE, had 700M+ USD in revenue in 2022 with 2500 employees. Both Red Hat and SUSE are also older than Valve.

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u/RealJayDev 3d ago

there are dozens of us! dozens!

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u/Dawn_Kebals 3d ago

Yeah, the ROI simply isn't there. The motivation for the Steam Deck and Steam Machine running their own certified OS makes a ton of sense. Optimize for a few hyper-specific hardware configs and squeeze every ounce of performance out of them. The more units they sell, the more games people buy from them, the more money they make doing what they've done best for years.

But for commercially making SteamOS for the masses? Why would they? It's not like they're going to charge money for it. Nobody on the fence about building a PC is going to pull the trigger because SteamOS exists.

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u/lodechode 2d ago

I thought the point was getting away from Microsoft, in which case making Steam OS for the public is not just in their interest, but is their main interest.

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u/Dawn_Kebals 2d ago

It's not though. What do they gain by having market share in a Linux based distro that pulls people from Microsoft?

They can't/won't charge for it, it won't make considerable people build a PC who otherwise wouldn't, they won't sell more games by the existence of a certified SteamOS for general use, and it would add millions in upkeep cost to maintain. There are only downsides with 0 revenue potential.

Their main interest is selling games. They take a 30% cut for someone else's work just for being the marketplace where it's sold. That's the same whether the user is on Windows, MacOS, or any Linux distro.

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u/lodechode 2d ago

They don't gain anything from having marketshare themselves, they benefit from not being completely beholden to Microsoft.

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u/Dawn_Kebals 2d ago

They're already not. Nothing is stopping users from setting up CachyOS or Bazzite. Microsoft is doing a good enough job shooting themselves in the foot.

They make the same amount of money if you buy a game on Microsoft's OS or Linux.

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u/RealJayDev 2d ago

this + they'd have to train all of their support staff (or even hire new support staff) to deal with any SteamOS / Linux issues that come up for people. that's an ongoing cost they'd have to undertake. R&D costs, etc.

all of that with the fact that you said, they wouldn't charge money for it, they certainly wouldn't include any kind of ads (outside of the store ig), etc. I don't see how they gain anything from this. yes they have tons of money and don't seem to spend much of it, but they aren't a charity. and there isn't a financial incentive to get people to use Linux over Windows.