Steam Deck - SteamOS, Zen2 4C/8T, RDNA2 1.0-1.6 TF, 16 GB LPDDR5 88 GB/s, starting at $399 [2021-12]

MfA said:
The support for third party linux applications (and app stores) sounds a bit scary. Unless they use VM or container isolation it will be hard to keep the core Linux install secure. A VM solution will be awkward without multiuser GPU drivers from AMD (which they don't currently offer for consumer hardware, unlike Intel). Even with containers they have to be careful with say X-windows isolation.

Just going letting people install any Arch package they want for the core OS is a recipe for disaster.
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I'm fairly ignorant when come to Linux. How is SteamOS scarier than any other flavour?

You presumably have to exit Steam's Little? Picture Mode and expend some effort to leave Valve's ecosystem.
 
People will think of this more of a console/mobile than a PC. Installing some third party software and having it steal your steam login is not an expected failure mode of a console or mobile.

Gamescope combined with snapcraft could go a long way towards making use of third party software secure (a third party appstore could be a snap which installs software inside it's own container) . People who want more finegrained control of the Linux OS or install software not available as snaps could dual boot.

PS. it seems I have missed a lot of work Valve has been putting into Linux, I wasn't even aware of gamescope or Valve' s work on proton and DX compatibility layers before today.

PSS. on second thought maybe forget about snap ... way too Canonical and anti-user-control, the windowsapps of Linux.
 
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Am I the only one here who really doesn't care about SteamOS?

Why would I want to be stuck with a limited O.S. will get lower game compatibility, lower performance due to emulation, no support for Windows Store / GamePass or GoG or Origin, fewer driver updates, etc.?

I do get that some gamers will just keep themselves to the Plug&Play functionality, though, but I wonder how long it'll take before lots of people complain because many games they bought on the Steam platform don't work on the Steam handheld they purchased from the same Steam store as the aforementioned games.
 
ToTTenTranz said:
I don't know if repasting could be warranty voiding in the U.E.'s right to repair laws. I don't think it is.
I was thinking more like the process changing the SSD on the earlier Surface Pros, where you needed to unscrew + unglue + repaste + glue again, etc. And for an inexperienced person the probability to fail and break the whole thing was enormous.

If it's just about taking 5, 10, 15 screws then although it's not optimal, it's nowhere near a warranty voiding thing.



The eMMC model has the M.2 slot unpopulated. The first of Gabe's e-mail responses in the video @eastmen posted said there was a M.2 slot in the $399 version.
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I wonder if they all have eMMC and its just treated as OS space on the nvme ones
 
LiveGamer said:
This is supposedly Game Pass compatible too. I wonder how that works?
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It's a PC. For Gamepass [Windows Store] games, Epic Games Store, Origin, UPlay, GOG, emulators and more, user will have to install Windows 10/11.

ToTTenTranz said:
I wish they'd been more honest with storage expandability from the start. In the first IGN interviews they very clearly stated the storage wasn't upgradable.
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Well, their position did not change. There is a M.2 slot on the motherboard, but is not easily accessible. Who knows how much disassembly will be needed to access it.


ToTTenTranz said:
Am I the only one here who really doesn't care about SteamOS?

Why would I want to be stuck with a limited O.S. will get lower game compatibility, lower performance due to emulation, no support for Windows Store / GamePass or GoG or Origin, fewer driver updates, etc.?
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Battery life?

But power users will surely sacrifice parts of the convenience and ease of use to customize this PC to their liking.
 
ToTTenTranz said:
Am I the only one here who really doesn't care about SteamOS?

Why would I want to be stuck with a limited O.S. will get lower game compatibility, lower performance due to emulation, no support for Windows Store / GamePass or GoG or Origin, fewer driver updates, etc.?

I do get that some gamers will just keep themselves to the Plug&Play functionality, though, but I wonder how long it'll take before lots of people complain because many games they bought on the Steam platform don't work on the Steam handheld they purchased from the same Steam store as the aforementioned games.
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The improved compatibility they're going for with this version of SteamOS is crucial. A lot of the goodwill towards the Deck will vanish if it's not much better than the picture ProtonDB paints. It needs to be great for them to sell millions of these things.

I have wondered if having a fixed SOC to target is really going to help quite a lot?
 
LiveGamer said:
This is supposedly Game Pass compatible too. I wonder how that works?
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Not sure if anyone answered yet, but it works by installing Windows on it. This of course assumes AMD releases GPU drivers for it for Windows.

Also, if no-one said it yet, this is supposedly Van Gogh
 
Shame AMD doesn't have consumer multi-use GPU drivers like Intel, then you could run windows in a VM and seamlessly switch.
 
An open M.2 slot on the $399 one makes it tempting, but the thumbsticks should be below the pads and not the way they are.

Someone tell them to change it please, then I'll get one. :yes:
 
I think he means they should follow more inline to the PS or Xbox layouts.

I'd rather they relocate the Track pads to have more typical layout. Though they'd need to keep the track pads away from accidental use.
 
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