Like it or not, this is the easiest way to get Linux further into the mainstream. I’ve had Linux on my laptop for about a year or so and have been loving it, but I’ve still been wary about switching my gaming PC. I think the biggest issue with most people hesitant to switch is ease of use. From the outside Linux looks cryptic and kinda scary for most people. I mean you have to do research just to find out which distro to use and even then might not even find one you like on the first try. With Windows… You just install Windows and you can already do everything you need to do.
One could argue it’s been mainstream for a while. We just don’t call it Linux. We call it android, game consoles, TVs etc… for consumers they look at hardware and software as one in the same.
If I were to guess, if steam os takes off, we will have another word other than Linux for these machines.
The built-in Proton WINE does pretty darn well for me already. Baldur’s Gate 3 plays fine on my Pop!_OS system.
Same. Doesn’t play Deadlock very well which I find really funny since it’s a Valve game. But it’s a play test so I’ll give it a pass for now.
Same bg3 works great! I’m running on steam deck and pop os at different intervals. It’s fun.
I’m so fucking ready to ditch Windows. I’m listening.
I hope this helps give Linux some love. Been using Bazzite and it seems to do the job pretty well.
I got the first gen rog ally while it was on a sale because I was curious if I’d like it more than my steam Deck.
Yeah the ally is collecting dust…
I wanted to then give it to my (not technically inclined, plays all games on a switch) partner when steam family library went live so she could play the vast library I have (and I was gonna setup emulators too) but I just couldn’t give it to her in good conscience. I’ve been working in IT for over 20 years and the UX for windows on a small device like the rog ally is such an utter pain in the ass that it basically ruined the experience. I used it as a living room PC for awhile by hooking it up to my TV with a KB/M but that’s just defeated the purpose of it’s form factor. It’s just a desktop PC now.
If using a Windows handheld as a traditional PC is the only comfortable way to use it for someone like me, there’s no way I’m giving that experience to someone that is used to console experiences.
Having steam OS on the rog ally (yes I’m well aware of Bazzite already existing and I’ve played around with it on the Ally, it’s just not quite there yet) would be a godsend to make the rog ally a useable device not just for myself, but definitely for the average person that grew up on consoles.
And yeah anything that can be done to get away from windows is better in my opinion. Even if Microsoft turned around tomorrow and made a “great UX for handhelds” it would still be windows. No thanks. I’ll keep a PC for the few things that just work better (or at all) on one just in case, but I don’t currently play any of the games that have the anti cheat issue on Linux anyway.
It’s great for hardware manufacturers, the consumers, and it’s great for Valve too. I for one welcome this expansion (finally) of the steam OS platform.