SteamOS expands beyond Steam Deck

[GFreeman]

With Lenovo's announcement at CES 2025 of the Lenovo Legion Go S, we are pleased to share that their "Powered by SteamOS" model is the first handheld officially licensed to ship with Valve's SteamOS. We built this operating system to provide a seamless user experience optimized for gaming, while retaining access to the power and flexibility of a PC. SteamOS is the same operating system we run on Steam Deck, and the team is making updates to ensure it fully supports the Lenovo Legion Go S and provides the same seamless experience customers expect.

In addition, the same work that we are doing to support the Lenovo Legion Go S will improve compatibility with other handhelds. Ahead of Legion Go S shipping, we will be shipping a beta of SteamOS which should improve the experience on other handhelds, and users can download and test this themselves. And of course we'll continue adding support and improving the experience with future releases.



Frequently-asked questions:
What is SteamOS?
SteamOS is an operating system built by Valve. It features a seamless user experience optimized for gaming, while retaining access to the power and flexibility of a PC, and plays tens of thousands of games on Steam. SteamOS currently officially ships on Steam Deck and will soon ship with certain Legion Go S models. Valve is working on SteamOS support for more devices in the future.

What are the key benefits of SteamOS?
SteamOS is optimized for gaming and provides a console-like experience that's meant to be used with a controller. It offers features like quick suspend / resume to get you quickly in and out of games, and offers seamless system and game updates.

What is the user experience of SteamOS?
SteamOS puts the player directly into Steam, with access to the full Steam ecosystem - your Steam Library, Steam Cloud, Steam Chat, Steam Game Recording, and more. The user interface is optimized for controller use and it's easy to install and play Steam games. Best of all, users don't have to worry about driver updates and hardware tweaks - all of this is handled seamlessly through built in system updates.

Can this run every game on Steam?
SteamOS is Linux based, and the vast majority of the Steam library runs on SteamOS, thanks to the Proton compatibility layer Valve ships. This allows developers to ship games for Windows without worrying about porting to Linux, and games will seamlessly work on SteamOS. When a game doesn't run well on SteamOS, we call it out with our Verified program so customers know what will and won't work well.

Is this the same operating system that is on Steam Deck?
Yes, it's the same operating system that Steam Deck runs.

Is a user locked into playing only Steam games?
No, if players wish to they can go to desktop mode and install other game launchers and software if they wish.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[JLP]

Awesome news. The sooner we get rid of the bloated spyware OS that is Windows the better. Keeping fingers crossed this trend continues.

 

[vvtunes]

SteamOS may be the sneaky contraption that will slowly replace Windows as the primary gaming OS. Never loose hope

 

[AusWolf]

Among all the CES news, this is the best one by far!

SteamOS may be the sneaky contraption that will slowly replace Windows as the primary gaming OS. Never loose hope

I've already switched over to Linux on my primary gaming rig, and I can wholeheartedly recommend everyone to do the same. It's a much smoother experience than it was 10 years ago, and it's much nicer for general use than Windows. Feels snappier, too.

 

[Nostras]

Among all the CES news, this is the best one by far!


I've already switched over to Linux on my primary gaming rig, and I can wholeheartedly recommend everyone to do the same. It's a much smoother experience than it was 10 years ago, and it's much nicer for general use than Windows. Feels snappier, too.

Sadly there's a lot of creature comforts or just straight up legacy software that does not play nice on Windows, not to mention certain games just straight up not running at all because of kernel anti-cheat.
I do hope that additional market adoption at least forces developers to reconsider the kernel anti-cheat part, all other things I'm willing to put some effort in to get working...

 

[SN2716057]

Among all the CES news, this is the best one by far!


I've already switched over to Linux on my primary gaming rig, and I can wholeheartedly recommend everyone to do the same. It's a much smoother experience than it was 10 years ago, and it's much nicer for general use than Windows. Feels snappier, too.

Same. I went from a slow Intel/Nvidia laptop to a mediocre speed Ubuntu.
Also currently I have the pre-shader issue that takes for-ever to load. Other than that it works flawlessly, even updating doesn't wreck it.

 

[JLP]

I've already switched over to Linux on my primary gaming rig, and I can wholeheartedly recommend everyone to do the same. It's a much smoother experience than it was 10 years ago, and it's much nicer for general use than Windows. Feels snappier, too.

Same here. Have been hapilly using GNU/Linux (openSUSE Tumblweed and Fedora, both with the same KDE Plasma desktop that is also available on SteamOS) for everything except gaming before. Then I bought Steam Deck a bit more than a year ago and it showed that also gaming on GNU/Linux is awesome and soon after I also nuked Windows from my gaming PCs.

 

[AusWolf]

kernel anti-cheat.

Well, maybe I should specify that I don't really play online.

What I do play online (Space Marine 2), I managed to get working with a command line in Steam that forces the game to detect your PC as a Steam Deck.

Same here. Have been hapilly using GNU/Linux (openSUSE Tumblweed and Fedora, both with the same KDE Plasma desktop that is also available on SteamOS) for everything except gaming before. Then I bought Steam Deck a bit more than a year ago and it showed that also gaming on GNU/Linux is awesome and soon after I also nuked Windows from my gaming PCs.

Then I'm not too far off.

I'm on Bazzite with the same KDE Plasma. I actually didn't know that the Deck was running KDE Plasma, too, until I got one and switched on desktop mode for the first time. It was a pleasant surprise.

In case someone doesn't know, Bazzite is a version of Fedora that's made specifically for gaming.

 

[Chrispy_]

Microsoft is nailing their own coffin shut with Windows anyway, by moving every Microsoft product that people actually use to a web-hosted subscription service.

You are actively punished by Microsoft for daring to try and run stuff locally on the hardware you own, apparently. And if the only thing we need Microsoft for is running in a browser, why should we put up with the many, many, intrusive annoyances of Windows 11?

 

[AusWolf]

Microsoft is nailing their own coffin shut with Windows anyway, by moving every Microsoft product that people actually use to a web-hosted subscription service.

You are actively punished by Microsoft for daring to try and run stuff locally on the hardware you own, apparently. And if the only thing we need Microsoft for is running in a browser, why should we put up with the many, many, intrusive annoyances of Windows 11?

Anything you don't have locally, you don't have at all... Especially running on a crappy UK/Midlands internet connection.

 

[kapone32]

Latest update from Windows. Your desktop background is even more connected to the Internet. I noticed an Icon on my desktop called "Learn about this picture" and guess what? When you click on it a Window opens describing what the picture is, where it is and of course links to Flights, hotels and things around it. The Elephant in the room for Steam OS is that AMD users already have the opportunity to use it on PC. As soon as I can play my GOG on it I am switching over.

 

[wNotyarD]

The Elephant in the room for Steam OS is that AMD users already have the opportunity to use it on PC. As soon as I can play my GOG on it I am switching over.

Isn't Heroic Launcher relatively easy to install on the Deck right now? Making it run your Epic and GOG libraries is trivial, it uses either Wine or Proton just like Steam does.
Installing and setting it up in a desktop Linux distro is even easier.

 

[kapone32]

Isn't Heroic Launcher relatively easy to install on the Deck right now? Making it run your Epic and GOG libraries is trivial, it uses either Wine or Proton just like Steam does.

Steam OS is made on Ryzen and Radeon. Just like the consoles, if you have better specs the experience will be better. There would be some innovations there . You know like how Games are being Validated for the Steam Deck? It is something that almost no one talks about.

 

[wNotyarD]

Steam OS is made on Ryzen and Radeon. Just like the consoles, if you have better specs the experience will be better. There would be some innovations there . You know like how Games are being Validated for the Steam Deck? It is something that almost no one talks about.

I think I catch your drift. But I think any optimization Valve brings to Proton that'd apply to Ryzen+Radeon would still apply while using Heroic to launch a game if you set it to use Proton (you can select between Wine and Proton on a per-game basis).

A nice thing with Heroic is it shows the ProtonDB status (and has a link for the ProtonDB discussion page) for the games on your library. If a title requires tinkering to run, that's the one-stop shop.
I just had to resort to it yesterday to set up GOG's The Witcher Enhanced Edition on my Garuda install.

 

[Chrispy_]

Latest update from Windows. Your desktop background is even more connected to the Internet. I noticed an Icon on my desktop called "Learn about this picture" and guess what? When you click on it a Window opens describing what the picture is, where it is and of course links to Flights, hotels and things around it. The Elephant in the room for Steam OS is that AMD users already have the opportunity to use it on PC. As soon as I can play my GOG on it I am switching over.

Windows 11 is just Windows 10 with advertising rammed down your throat from a whole bunch of new and constantly changing avenues.

Windows 10 will be the new XP, running hundreds of millions of installs all over the world after official support ends because people refuse to lose control and agency of their own computers to get Windows 11.

Yes, I know you can manually neuter Windows 11 with PowerShell scripts, manually turning off all the suggestions and advertising, and all kinds of other registry tweaks to stop it from being an intrusive, invasive violation of your privacy. You have to do that for Windows 10 to a lesser extent, but for Windows 11 your changes get aggressively rolled back during normal Windows updates, so your average Joe is just getting blasted by Microsoft advertising from all angles. Few people are willing to re-run scripts and registry changes every update, as well as invest in the time to research and undo new intrusions that Microsoft are constantly introducing.

IMO a lot of Windows users are going to go to Apple in 2026 once Windows 10 support officially ends. I don't know anyone who likes Microsoft any more, and most people barely tolerate Microsoft at best with a larger demographic who are actively pissed off with Microsoft.

 

[AusWolf]

Latest update from Windows. Your desktop background is even more connected to the Internet. I noticed an Icon on my desktop called "Learn about this picture" and guess what? When you click on it a Window opens describing what the picture is, where it is and of course links to Flights, hotels and things around it. The Elephant in the room for Steam OS is that AMD users already have the opportunity to use it on PC. As soon as I can play my GOG on it I am switching over.

What, SteamOS runs on a PC?

You can play GOG through the Heroic Launcher.

 

[kalassynikoff]

Windows 11 is just Windows 10 with advertising rammed down your throat from a whole bunch of new and constantly changing avenues.

Windows 10 will be the new XP, running hundreds of millions of installs all over the world after official support ends because people refuse to lose control and agency of their own computers to get Windows 11.

Yes, I know you can manually neuter Windows 11 with PowerShell scripts, manually turning off all the suggestions and advertising, and all kinds of other registry tweaks to stop it from being an intrusive, invasive violation of your privacy. You have to do that for Windows 10 to a lesser extent, but for Windows 11 your changes get aggressively rolled back during normal Windows updates, so your average Joe is just getting blasted by Microsoft advertising from all angles. Few people are willing to re-run scripts and registry changes every update, as well as invest in the time to research and undo new intrusions that Microsoft are constantly introducing.

IMO a lot of Windows users are going to go to Apple in 2026 once Windows 10 support officially ends. I don't know anyone who likes Microsoft any more, and most people barely tolerate Microsoft at best with a larger demographic who are actively pissed off with Microsoft.

Honestly I do not think Apple is any better. Sure you don't get the ad annoyances but they are just as bad on the other front. EVERYTHING is locked behind an apple account. You can't even fully wipe your drive and reset without an apple account. Owning Apple devices is not owning your own device. You are paying a rental fee.

 

[Chrispy_]

Honestly I do not think Apple is any better. Sure you don't get the ad annoyances but they are just as bad on the other front. EVERYTHING is locked behind an apple account. You can't even fully wipe your drive and reset without an apple account. Owning Apple devices is not owning your own device. You are paying a rental fee.

I didn't say Apple was better, just that people will switch away from Microsoft because they are sick of Microsoft and Apple is the most obvious alternative.
I don't expect them to do any real research, just be irritated enough by Microsoft to want to try out the alternatives and decide for themselves.

 

[AusWolf]

I didn't say Apple was better, just that people will switch away from Microsoft because they are sick of Microsoft and Apple is the most obvious alternative.
I don't expect them to do any real research, just be irritated enough by Microsoft to want to try out the alternatives and decide for themselves.

I don't know how long it'll take for people to learn that corporations are not your friends (but the Linux community is).

 

[Chrispy_]

I don't know how long it'll take for people to learn that corporations are not your friends (but the Linux community is).

Based on my experience of supporting their IT needs for the last 30 years, they will never learn.

 

[LittleBro]

Awesome. The only thing that keeps me from switching to Linux is games and hardware support, although hardware support improved vastly over past years.
I look forward to getting SteamOS as dual boot along with Mint on my PC, so I can finally dump that P'o'S Windows so called OS.

I wouldn't care even if SteamOS would be paid in some way, I would gladly support them given the one time payment is at reasonable price.

 

[AusWolf]

Awesome. The only thing that keeps me from switching to Linux is games and hardware support, although hardware support improved vastly over past years.
I look forward to getting SteamOS as dual boot along with Mint on my PC, so I can finally dump that P'o'S Windows so called OS.

I wouldn't care even if SteamOS would be paid in some way, I would gladly support them given the one time payment is at reasonable price.

The exact same things kept me from switching for years until I pulled the trigger a few months ago. The only thing I wish is if I'd done it sooner. Game support is great thanks to Proton (which Steam installs automatically), so is hardware support thanks to all drivers, including the AMD GPU one being included in the kernel. Even with Nvidia, you can get distros that come with the driver included. It's a much smoother experience and is even easier to set up than Windows.

Edit: The above is for Bazzite. Your mileage may vary with different distros.

 

[wNotyarD]

The exact same things kept me from switching for years until I pulled the trigger a few months ago. The only thing I wish is if I'd done it sooner. Game support is great thanks to Proton (which Steam installs automatically), so is hardware support thanks to all drivers, including the AMD GPU one being included in the kernel. Even with Nvidia, you can get distros that come with the driver included.

There are some little things that need fixing for gamers though. Apart from kernel-level anti-cheat solutions, from experience there are some backend services some games use that simply don't work with Proton (F*** YOU VIVOX), and Discord MUST fix streaming.

Seriously, I can't stream Jackbox games to my friends under Linux because Discord crashes with no (official) workaround available. And that's preposterous.

These edge cases keep me from fully commiting to Linux for gaming, but most of the time my rig isn't running Windows anymore.

 

[80-watt Hamster]

Among all the CES news, this is the best one by far!


I've already switched over to Linux on my primary gaming rig, and I can wholeheartedly recommend everyone to do the same. It's a much smoother experience than it was 10 years ago, and it's much nicer for general use than Windows. Feels snappier, too.

Is there a megathread or somesuch here for gaming on Linux? I'm anticipating the switch come October, and am very Linux-rusty.

 

[AusWolf]

Is there a megathread or somesuch here for gaming on Linux? I'm anticipating the switch come October, and am very Linux-rusty.

I'm not sure, but we can make one in the Linux forum. I'm sure a few other people would join, too.

And don't worry about being Linux-rusty. When I switched in November, I hadn't used Linux for 10 years. And even then, I used Ubuntu and Mint, and I'm on Bazzite (Fedora spinoff) now. Thanks to the KDE Plasma desktop, Steam, Proton and Wine (and the excellent AMD support), I haven't touched the terminal once.