Steam Client Beta updates do not normally attract much attention - Valve's iterative patch notes for the digital service application read in a mostly mundane way - but this week's trial system upgrade has turned heads. Valve has managed to introduce some interesting new features with this latest update - the in-game overlay system has been overhauled so users are offered the option to pin related windows over/on top of an active game session. Players are granted multiple options in the adjustment of overlay window opacity levels - so web browsers, document apps and image browsers can be customized to best suit the in-game experience. Users will also be happy to discover that they can now watch their favorite movies, TV shows or streaming platform within the same screen space as their chosen game - no need to minimize and arrange multiple app windows or shift everything across multiple monitor setups. The screenshot manager has been enhanced to a greater degree - Valve states that: "it's responsive, you can choose from large or small thumbnails, view recent screenshots rather than by game, and you can manage online screenshots as well as local screenshots".

A new Notes App has been introduced via the latest Steam Client Beta update - users can now jot down their thoughts and observations during game sessions. Valve boasts that the application offers: "rich text formatting, the ability to have multiple notes per game, and can even be used in offline mode." The blog also provides explanations of other handy features and improvements: "The new toolbar gives you access to anything you may need in the middle of a game - friends chat, achievements progress, guides, discussions, a browser, and more. We've picked a couple windows by default, and you can pick and personalize the pieces of content you'd like to see in your overlay - settings are saved between games. This toolbar can be switched between an icon view and a list view in Settings. The Game Overview is your one-stop shop to see what's going on with the game since you last played it. For example, it shows what achievements you have in progress, which friends are playing the same game, top guides, news, and more."

Valve issued small update / patch notesToday we're shipping a significant update to Steam Client Beta, with new features and improvements to the Steam Desktop experience. This includes:

• Overhaul of the In-Game Overlay, with an updated design and new features
• New Notes app, saved per-game, and accessible in-game or out
• Steam Client notifications are now richer and more useful
• The screenshot manager has been completely refreshed with new functionality

In addition to these features, a good portion of the work we did in this update went into significant improvements under-the-hood, including changes to how we share code across Steam Desktop, Steam Deck, and Big Picture Mode.

As always, we are eager to gather feedback and hear what folks think. Read more about the update here.

Other changes:

Big Picture Mode
Added support for Mouse4 (Back) as B button in the interface
Fixed opening the "Reorder controllers" dialog in the main Big Picture Window when a game is running

Steam Input

• Added new config export path that works while offline. In personal configuration dropdown the options are now "New Personal Save", which is this new option and "New Sharable Personal Save", which uses the existing Steam Workshop backend.
• Filter the configuration export options based on whether the device is connected to Steam/Offline
• Fixed some flashes when adjusting sliders in the Quick Settings section of the configurator
• Fixed moving right in the mode settings page not jumping to the appropriate settings sub-page
• Fixed turning off the Dual Sense Edge controller