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SteamOS
SteamOS is a gaming-focused Linux distribution developed by Valve, based on Arch Linux and incorporating the company's video game storefront, Steam. It serves as the operating system for the Steam Deck, Valve's handheld gaming device, and was previously used in the discontinued line of Steam Machines. Beginning in 2025, Valve expanded official support to include third-party devices designated as "SteamOS Compatible", such as handhelds like the Lenovo Legion Go and Asus ROG Ally. It can also be installed on personal computers without official support. The core operating system is free and open-source software, while the Steam client remains proprietary.
SteamOS was first released in 2013, with versions 1.0 and 2.0 based on Debian and designed primarily as a client for streaming games over a local network from a gaming PC, with limited support for native gameplay. Valve promoted the platform as part of a broader effort to expand Linux gaming. In 2022, Valve introduced SteamOS 3.0 alongside the launch of the Steam Deck. This version transitioned to an Arch Linux base which used a rolling release model that Valve felt was better suited for hardware support. It has a dual‑mode interface: a console‑style mode powered by Steam's Big Picture UI, and a KDE Plasma desktop environment for traditional computing use. SteamOS 3.0 also incorporates Valve’s Proton compatibility layer, enabling many Windows games to run on Linux.
During a panel at LinuxCon on September 16, 2013, Valve co-founder and executive director Gabe Newell stated that he believed "Linux and open source are the future of gaming", going on to say that the company was aiding game developers who want to make games compatible with Linux, and that they would be making an announcement the following week related to introducing Linux into the living room. On September 20, 2013, Valve posted a statement on its website titled The Steam Universe is Expanding in 2014 which teased three new announcements related to "even more ways to connect the dots for customers who want Steam in the living-room". The first announcement was made on September 23 as SteamOS, with Valve saying they had "come to the conclusion that the environment best suited to delivering value to customers is an operating system built around Steam itself". A large focus of the reveal was the openness of the operating system, with it being announced that users would be able to alter or replace any part of the software, and that it would be free.
In October 2013, Valve announced Steam Dev Days; a two-day developer conference where video game developers could test and provide feedback on SteamOS and prototype Steam Machines. In October 2013, Nvidia also announced their collaboration with Valve to support SteamOS with the help of a development suite called Nvidia GameWorks, incorporating PhysX, OptiX, VisualFX and other Nvidia-proprietary APIs and implementations thereof.
In November 2013, Valve confirmed that they would not be making any exclusive games for SteamOS, and discouraged other developers from doing so, as it goes against their philosophy of selling games wherever customers are. In December, Valve announced that a beta version of SteamOS would be released on December 13, 2013. When this beta version (dubbed SteamOS 1.0) released, Valve encouraged customers unfamiliar with Linux to wait until 2014, and the release of SteamOS 2.0.
Originally, video content such as television, movies and music were only available on SteamOS through Steam's store, which offered only a small number of films, or locally stored content. In October 2015, an update allowed Netflix and other DRM protected content to function in the native built-in browser. SteamOS 2.0 installations recommended an Intel or AMD 64-bit capable processor, at least 4 gigabytes of RAM, 200 GB on one's hard disk, either an AMD Radeon 8500 or newer or an Nvidia Fermi graphics card (GeForce 400 series and GeForce 500 series) or newer, a USB port and UEFI boot support. A custom installer method was also made available through Valve's repositories, which could require additional configuration steps, allowing for smaller hard-disk sizes and non-UEFI motherboards.
In mid-October 2015, preorders of the Steam Controller, Steam Link, and Alienware branded Steam Machines became available. The official release date for Steam Machines was November 10, 2015. In the following years, reliance by game engines on proprietary Windows APIs, as well as steadily more efficient computer hardware, made SteamOS an obstacle to the success of Steam Machines, which declined in popularity throughout the latter half of the decade relative to platforms such as mobile gaming and handheld consoles.
On July 15, 2021, Valve announced the Steam Deck, a brand-new handheld PC gaming device, which would run a new and substantially different version of SteamOS, version 3.0. This new version is based upon Arch Linux, with the KDE Plasma 5 desktop environment pre-installed to allow users to customize their systems. The decision to move from Debian to Arch Linux was based on the different update schedule for these distributions; Debian, geared for server configurations, updates core OS software in one large release, with intermediate patches for known bugs and security fixes, while Arch uses a rolling update approach for all parts. Valve found that using Arch's rolling updates as a base would be better suited for the Steam Deck, allowing them to address issues and fixes much faster than Debian would allow. SteamOS itself is not rolling release. Valve contracted with Collabora to build their updating system. Valve affirmed that SteamOS 3.0 will continue to be freely available, with the intention of allowing other hardware developers to take advantage of it and build similar handheld computing devices like the Deck. Version 3.0 also included Flatpak for application management, controller remapping tools, and support for Vulkan graphics drivers.
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SteamOS
SteamOS is a gaming-focused Linux distribution developed by Valve, based on Arch Linux and incorporating the company's video game storefront, Steam. It serves as the operating system for the Steam Deck, Valve's handheld gaming device, and was previously used in the discontinued line of Steam Machines. Beginning in 2025, Valve expanded official support to include third-party devices designated as "SteamOS Compatible", such as handhelds like the Lenovo Legion Go and Asus ROG Ally. It can also be installed on personal computers without official support. The core operating system is free and open-source software, while the Steam client remains proprietary.
SteamOS was first released in 2013, with versions 1.0 and 2.0 based on Debian and designed primarily as a client for streaming games over a local network from a gaming PC, with limited support for native gameplay. Valve promoted the platform as part of a broader effort to expand Linux gaming. In 2022, Valve introduced SteamOS 3.0 alongside the launch of the Steam Deck. This version transitioned to an Arch Linux base which used a rolling release model that Valve felt was better suited for hardware support. It has a dual‑mode interface: a console‑style mode powered by Steam's Big Picture UI, and a KDE Plasma desktop environment for traditional computing use. SteamOS 3.0 also incorporates Valve’s Proton compatibility layer, enabling many Windows games to run on Linux.
During a panel at LinuxCon on September 16, 2013, Valve co-founder and executive director Gabe Newell stated that he believed "Linux and open source are the future of gaming", going on to say that the company was aiding game developers who want to make games compatible with Linux, and that they would be making an announcement the following week related to introducing Linux into the living room. On September 20, 2013, Valve posted a statement on its website titled The Steam Universe is Expanding in 2014 which teased three new announcements related to "even more ways to connect the dots for customers who want Steam in the living-room". The first announcement was made on September 23 as SteamOS, with Valve saying they had "come to the conclusion that the environment best suited to delivering value to customers is an operating system built around Steam itself". A large focus of the reveal was the openness of the operating system, with it being announced that users would be able to alter or replace any part of the software, and that it would be free.
In October 2013, Valve announced Steam Dev Days; a two-day developer conference where video game developers could test and provide feedback on SteamOS and prototype Steam Machines. In October 2013, Nvidia also announced their collaboration with Valve to support SteamOS with the help of a development suite called Nvidia GameWorks, incorporating PhysX, OptiX, VisualFX and other Nvidia-proprietary APIs and implementations thereof.
In November 2013, Valve confirmed that they would not be making any exclusive games for SteamOS, and discouraged other developers from doing so, as it goes against their philosophy of selling games wherever customers are. In December, Valve announced that a beta version of SteamOS would be released on December 13, 2013. When this beta version (dubbed SteamOS 1.0) released, Valve encouraged customers unfamiliar with Linux to wait until 2014, and the release of SteamOS 2.0.
Originally, video content such as television, movies and music were only available on SteamOS through Steam's store, which offered only a small number of films, or locally stored content. In October 2015, an update allowed Netflix and other DRM protected content to function in the native built-in browser. SteamOS 2.0 installations recommended an Intel or AMD 64-bit capable processor, at least 4 gigabytes of RAM, 200 GB on one's hard disk, either an AMD Radeon 8500 or newer or an Nvidia Fermi graphics card (GeForce 400 series and GeForce 500 series) or newer, a USB port and UEFI boot support. A custom installer method was also made available through Valve's repositories, which could require additional configuration steps, allowing for smaller hard-disk sizes and non-UEFI motherboards.
In mid-October 2015, preorders of the Steam Controller, Steam Link, and Alienware branded Steam Machines became available. The official release date for Steam Machines was November 10, 2015. In the following years, reliance by game engines on proprietary Windows APIs, as well as steadily more efficient computer hardware, made SteamOS an obstacle to the success of Steam Machines, which declined in popularity throughout the latter half of the decade relative to platforms such as mobile gaming and handheld consoles.
On July 15, 2021, Valve announced the Steam Deck, a brand-new handheld PC gaming device, which would run a new and substantially different version of SteamOS, version 3.0. This new version is based upon Arch Linux, with the KDE Plasma 5 desktop environment pre-installed to allow users to customize their systems. The decision to move from Debian to Arch Linux was based on the different update schedule for these distributions; Debian, geared for server configurations, updates core OS software in one large release, with intermediate patches for known bugs and security fixes, while Arch uses a rolling update approach for all parts. Valve found that using Arch's rolling updates as a base would be better suited for the Steam Deck, allowing them to address issues and fixes much faster than Debian would allow. SteamOS itself is not rolling release. Valve contracted with Collabora to build their updating system. Valve affirmed that SteamOS 3.0 will continue to be freely available, with the intention of allowing other hardware developers to take advantage of it and build similar handheld computing devices like the Deck. Version 3.0 also included Flatpak for application management, controller remapping tools, and support for Vulkan graphics drivers.
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