Do so, and you can then “exit” Steam Big Picture Mode and access a generic Debian desktop-though it’s clearly a secondary focus for the game-oriented OS. The other 15 percent? Dig into the SteamOS settings menu, under Interface, and you’ll find a box labeled Enable access to the Linux desktop. The only notable thing missing is a “Beta” stamp on the right-hand side. This screenshot was taken in Windows, but you’d never know it. Yes, this means you can get approximately 85 percent of the current SteamOS experience by opening up Steam on your actual PC and clicking the “Big Picture” button in the upper-right corner. This is the primary interface in SteamOS. After you’ve completed the entire installation and the system boots for the first time, you’re launched immediately into Steam Big Picture Mode. SteamOS basically runs two separate instances at once: Steam Mode and Desktop Mode. With no family sharing, no game streaming, and only Steam’s shallow Linux catalog to work with, what actually made it into this SteamOS beta? It teases you with glimpses of all the cool games you own, and then when you click one to install, it says, “Not available.” You have to filter your library manually to show only Linux games. What’s more, Steam doesn’t filter your Linux-compatible games by default. You’re stuck running a sparse selection of Linux-native games. Steam doesn’t filter non-Linux games automatically, so don’t be surprised if you see something like this.Īnd thus its absence is also very noticeable. How well will it run? Will the lag render games unplayable? Are people really going to run two computers at the same time, just to sit on their couch? Game streaming is probably the standout feature of SteamOS, and the one that raises the most questions. Then you can stream that data over your in-home wireless network out to your Steam Machine, sitting pretty in your living room. Instead of wrapping Windows executables with WINE, Valve hopes you’ll run the games on your standard Windows desktop machine (at least until Linux games/ports maybe become standard). Streaming is Valve’s solution to the Linux issue: There are comparatively few titles compared to the long list of Windows games. Valve isn’t saying when it might come to the masses. I’ve tested it with a few friends, but it wasn’t rolled out to the general Steam community. The family-sharing feature, which lets you authorize other users to share your Steam library while you’re not accessing it (on a device-by-device basis), is in a limited beta right now. I’ve never been so happy to see a login screen. Installation took approximately 20 minutes, all told. I opted for Automatic Install, but there’s an Expert Install if you like micromanaging what’s on your computer. Once I figured out my UEFI issues and installation started, the pain subsided. I went with the 960MB, “harder” method for installation (it uses the Debian installer instead of a System Restore) because I’m a masochist. Eventually I uncovered the option to turn off Windows-only protection-it was hidden beneath three submenus-but it can trip you up if you’re only used to installing Windows. The Asus motherboard in my machine was locked to Windows by default, and it took me far too long to figure out why the computer wasn’t recognizing the bootable USB stick I’d made. Your computer must sport a UEFI-enabled motherboard.Įven if you are using a UEFI-enabled motherboard, prepare for some fun.
(There are also instructions for installing the OS on a virtual machine here-credit to Steam user rebelholic.)
Reddit user Frost圜oolSlug outlined steps for circumventing the requirement if your motherboard is stuck with BIOS, but it’s a lengthy process. Then there’s the pesky, UEFI-enabled motherboard requirement. You have to use a special drive and (optimally) a separate computer to run SteamOS at the moment. Also, SteamOS is incapable of living peacefully alongside Windows-the installation wipes any existing drives. First we run into the system requirements: Your computer must pack an Nvidia graphics card, because AMD and Intel aren’t supported (yet).
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