SteamOS has been released to the public and can be installed on any machine running an AMD GPU, and it’s pretty fantastic across the board. in some cases the performance is better bc there no Windows overhead. some online games with Win-only anti-cheat software are incompatible tho
I made the switch from Windows last month and I'm staying, but sometimes you gotta go dig on the forums for more bespoke stuff (like setting up sunshine/moonlight streaming, etc.)
My new years resolution 2 years ago was to get back on Linux full-time, and the gaming story has been stellar.
There's some games that more or less explicitly refuse to work on Linux. Destiny 2. Multiplayer EA games like the Battlefield series. But most everything runs fantastic.
i got my mom (age 80) on linux precisely because she was like "this laptop was fine five years ago now its slower than dirt what are these updates all i need it to do is etc etc etc its all a racket" and im like yes it is
i prefer linux for a lot of reasons too, especially the vibrancy of the app ecosystem. however it not being perfect does not mean you shouldn’t try dual booting / using it 90% of the time. it’s absolutely possible these days
Yeah, thanks to Proton (Valve's custom builtin fork of Wine), most games work just about as well as with Windows. If you have issues, do some web searches through places like GitHub and you might find a fix as well. Did that several times in the past.
Very well supported these days. Some multiplayer games that rely on anti cheat won't work, but most everything else does. Almost my entire steam library is supported on my Steam Deck with 0 effort
i literally don't even check if steam games are compatible with steamplay or whatever they call their windows compatibility layer, games sometimes run better on linux than they do on my windows pc (especially older games that don't run on modern windows well)
I use Ubuntu and just proton from Steam nothing else. It is pretty great, the only problem I faced was poorer performance on Cyberpunk but everything else is great. My PS4 controller even works better.
Although I do not play multiplayer
Just switched to CachyOS a couple weeks ago for the same reasons. Loving it so far and minus some initial setup headaches most things “just work” with Steam + Proton. I could never get Windows 11 to stop turning off my controller mid session and with XpadNeo it’s been better than ever
I've heard many Linux builds including the free ones run practically all steam games 1:1 with windows these days. Outside of steam it may take a little work under the hood to get games running, but it's really improved in the past decade.
ran through dark forces / dark forces 2: jedi knight / jedi knight 2: jedi outcast / jedi academy and had a delightful time with only a few tweaks to the .cfg files to get it to output to a ultrawide display properly
i agree wholeheartedly. unless you are running a more "unix-like" linux than full systemd. dgmw, sysd can be better than windows on two year old hw! -
- but if you try to go oldschoolsysv, you'll find fights that don't need to be fought and security problems with the systemd variant, by comparison
or you can keep the systemd problems and add your extra cpu and ram to a dark-web botnet on the OS side, as well as through the steam browser sandbox side, without ever noticing .. or similiar.
MS sucks but linux users who don't understand the premises of this stuff are useful idiots to someone
My linux friends all love it however I still have issues and additionally to my knowledge most games with anti cheat still dont work, meaning a lot of major ones
Even on a steam deck you do occasionally have to do classically linux stuff with the terminal and such to get non-steam stuff working, but it definitely is less hostile than windows these days, especially for indie stuff.
Apparently NexusMods has a Linux app now. Not sure how it interacts with windows only games (like fallout new vegas, one game I wanna play) that run through proton, but I am willing to try it
Generally good in my experience with Steam, but can be surprisingly hit or miss.
I've had games from last year run without a hitch, I've had games from ten years ago that either couldn't start at all or struggled to hit 5fps on the main menu.
I use Ubuntu for everything including all my gaming on Steam. Honestly even if you tried it out four or five years ago it’s come so far. I have no issues because of being on Linux and I would wager it’s better than using Mikkkro$oft
Since moving house a few months ago, I have plugged in the Linux gaming computer but not the Windows one. It’s working fine for me, mostly multiplayer base-building games.
i imagine peripheral compatibility is probably still ass for anything outside your standard two-stick controllers but idk. i don't play racing sims and flight sims thaat much but it would be nice
Overall really good. better if you have and amd GPU because Nvidia Linux drivers aren't very good. Most games barring ones with some anti cheats just work™️ from steam and non steam games you mostly can just add to steam and use proton and it just works™️
anything with anticheat is often still a problem, otherwise it’s pretty decent. sometimes you do need to hit the terminal but i wouldn’t worry about it
I have a laptop that i run Pop!_OS on and it's been pretty smooth, at least if you're using Steam. If it works on the steamdeck, it will work on Pop!_OS once you enable Steam's proton layer.
And the Pop!_OS built in app storefront thing has the nvidia drivers downloadble/installable from there
i'd imagine it's really seamless if you're using Pop!_OS on system76 hardware. i'm thinking about getting their mini desktop to use as a dedicated gaming/media computer
Works great, some older things may require you to select older versions of Proton when running through Steam. Linux also has the benefit of, when you do have an issue, you will be able to quickly find a command to run or a config to update and it will work instead of looking through 50 forum posts.
Steam os' actively maintained Proton interface layer makes Linux for gaming the easier default honestly. It's emulating windows interface layer sure but that's all invisible to you as a player, everything Just Works pretty much.
My wife uses Linux and it's mostly fine. I have basically one game that doesn't run on Linux that I play regularly. But I play on my Steam Deck a lot and it's perfectly fine for most things.
Great! Made the switch about six months ago for the same reason. If you’re using Steam it’s pretty painless out of the box, just turn on Steam Play. GOG / Epic only marginally more complicated learning curve (I use Heroic for those). Only real issue is certain anti cheat systems if you play mp.
I switched when Valve introduced Proton in 2018-ish. Started with Manjaro, but now I just use an Arch build. I rarely have issues playing games on my setup anymore. Only time Linux gives me headaches is when something breaks, but that's only happened a few times in the ~7 years I've used it.
Mostly fine, some stuff still runs poorly and EAC isn't native so it only works if someone put in the effort, but overall it's ok. Proton and Steam and making it a better OS for gaming so it's always improving.
If you're predominantly running through Steam it should be easy peasy thanks to their support via proton, have yet to find a game I can't run. Switched to Linux Mint and haven't regretted it yet
There's been recent benchmarks and it seems, even with the overhead of Proton, Linux cleans Windows clock in terms of performance.
The biggest barrier is a version of Linux that's friendly for the masses alongside a lot of games still being incompatible, but it's improving and there's SteamOS.
i think the explanation has been the steamdeck. Steam has built an insane emulation/compatibility layer for linux in order to support a not-very-heavy handheld gaming device. There's a virtuous cycle going on now that just results in most games working extremely well on linux.
i have a friend i game with and he uses linux and he seems to never have issues
if u use steam’s proton compatibility layer the website https://protondb.com will give u people’s reports on what games work well with it and tinkering tips if u run into problems
If you like playing modern multiplayer games, you are probably fucked by anti-cheat. Otherwise, it will probably mostly work fine. There is still some amount of hassle and tinkering required, esp. if you have an Nvidia GPU or whatever, but it is smoother than ever. Best way to find out is to try!
Nvidia's Linux driver support does lag behind Windows, but they finally put out a driver update that works great with Wayland so I don't have to use X11 anymore.
It's great, the only game I have a problem with is Baldur's Gate isn't playing nice with Wayland, but that's solved by just logging out and logging back in with X11
pretty good! steam's compatability tool proton has gotten really good in the last few years so most games run well with minimal tinkering, but if that doesnt work you can use lutris to search for community created custom installers that come with tweaks and fixes
Just put NixOS on the new Framework 13 and it was shocking how easy it was to install steam, enable proton and just start playing games not native to linux. I'm switching my only other Windows PC to bazzite soon for sure
It's mostly there, there's quirks, I'd say expect to do about as much troubleshooting as you would during the windows 7 days, getting the xbox wireless adapter to work was a little goofy, also you're not gonna be able to use Gamepass for obvious reasons, but if you mostly just play on steam, I'd
recommend it, once you learn how to change proton versions and stuff (which is very easy) you'll be good, I barely run into issues and if I do it's usually just one game in particular (Marvel Rivals, for some reason proton tends to get borked a lot on that for me but it could just be my distro)
also the performance difference is mostly negligible. But I've been going linux only (regular ubuntu) for over a year now and so far I'm liking it a lot more than fucking Wangblows Macroshit
How is the wifi on that? Last time I had Linux (2020), the wifi protocol was garbage and I've seen comments from people since then (but not recently) confirming. Hoping they figured out how to make this better.
the only time I have trouble with my wifi personally is when I'm playing an online heavy game on my PS5 via my steam deck using chiaki and even then that's largely the remote play protocol itself having problems. normally it's totally fine for me.
I'm fuckin furious that the games I play most with my wife and brother are so reliant on anti-cheat software that basically invalidates linux. I'd switch over in a heartbeat if not for that tbh and I'm a day 1 linux hater
Extremely good for 99% of games. It's not completely seemless, and anyone telling you otherwise is probably lying, but between heroic and steam you have most things covered
If you can get it onto steam, the game is almost guaranteed to work. You can even take games from outside of steam, put the launcher into it through the "add to steam" feature, and proton works it from there.
better than it used to be but yeah, almost every big competitive game with anticheat doesn't support it (and some like Apex dropped support for Linux recently)
Multiplayer is hit or miss. A lot of he big ones like Call of Duty and Fortnite don't work. Or it could be a case like GTA Online or Apex Legends where they did work on Linux until the devs decided to pull support.
Most things on Steam run very well and with little tinkering needed on user end.
Any game with an Anti-Cheat is difficult, if not impossible to make work. These are competitive multiplayer games/shooters/MOBAs though, so if you’re not specifically into those games you won’t care
I built my Linux rig in January, and only have lay-knowledge from growing up On The Computer, it’s been humbling but anyone with Actual Computer Knowledge should be fine.
If anything I’ve been surprised by how painless *most* things that I want to play have been to run
You can get a very good experience with the steam deck for less demanding games. You can get a good experience with a desktop and AMD GPU for a lot of higher spec games. The missing link is gonna be esports titles that use anticheat because the anticheat is often OS specific.
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Unfortunately if you play things with anti cheat you're stuck in Windows.
- I am all AMD
- I don't play any kernel level anti cheat games
It is still goofy sometimes but I am finding it mostly just works so far
There's some games that more or less explicitly refuse to work on Linux. Destiny 2. Multiplayer EA games like the Battlefield series. But most everything runs fantastic.
https://areweanticheatyet.com/
Another reason to hate DRM.
Although I do not play multiplayer
- but if you try to go oldschoolsysv, you'll find fights that don't need to be fought and security problems with the systemd variant, by comparison
MS sucks but linux users who don't understand the premises of this stuff are useful idiots to someone
I've had games from last year run without a hitch, I've had games from ten years ago that either couldn't start at all or struggled to hit 5fps on the main menu.
but when it doesn't just work ™️. it can suck
And the Pop!_OS built in app storefront thing has the nvidia drivers downloadble/installable from there
I keep this bookmarked for reference https://www.protondb.com/
*This user is a dad in his late forties who doesn't understand how stupid this sounds
The biggest barrier is a version of Linux that's friendly for the masses alongside a lot of games still being incompatible, but it's improving and there's SteamOS.
https://bsky.app/profile/utopia-defer.red/post/3lqkusoqplk2l
i contain multitudes
even edge cases where it is preferable like gta iv just working better on steam deck than on my pc just for some reason
if u use steam’s proton compatibility layer the website https://protondb.com will give u people’s reports on what games work well with it and tinkering tips if u run into problems
i try to not play those types of games a lot because they're massive time sinks but i'm still curious lol.
Any game with an Anti-Cheat is difficult, if not impossible to make work. These are competitive multiplayer games/shooters/MOBAs though, so if you’re not specifically into those games you won’t care
If anything I’ve been surprised by how painless *most* things that I want to play have been to run
I need to check out Bazzite and see what the hype is about. Sounds incredible.