r/SteamOS • u/Successful-Creme-405 • Aug 31 '26
help wanted What should I know before installing SteamOS?
My cousin and me grew tired of Win11 slop and want to migrate to SteamOS.
Since I'm the more experienced of us, I'll be the test subject and try it first to see if we can handle it.
Both our PC's are Ryzen 5 3600 with XFX Radeon 4Gb graphics, so I don't think drivers will be an issue.
What's your experiences with it? What should I know before jumping to the abyss?
4
u/infinitelylarge Aug 31 '26
SteamOS is great. Definitely recommend. Here are a couple caveats though:
If you want to play anti-cheat games, check compatibility here first: https://AreWeAntiCheatYet.com/ . Most other Windows games work, but you can check https://protondb.com/ .
The SteamOS installer will completely erase the first NVME drive and install SteamOS on it. If you want to save any data on the first NVME drive, back it up before booting the SteamOS installer. If you don’t have an NVME drive, you can’t install SteamOS.
3
u/kgabrielnowak Aug 31 '26
Got it installed on sata
1
u/infinitelylarge Aug 31 '26
How?
2
1
u/Mystic_Guardian_NZ Sep 03 '26
You just edit the script a bit. I couldn't get it to work but I can see that plenty of people have.
3
u/FalhnKnyte Aug 31 '26
Any more than one storage drive will cause you problems. It’s not easy and straightforward to have multiple drives for games.
2
u/SupremeEuphoria Aug 31 '26
You can have multiple drives for games just fine. The main concern is if they want to install the OS to a drive other than the one the install script defaults to.
1
u/CMDR_Kantaris Aug 31 '26
Best way around this is to install the OS with one drive installed then add the other(s)
1
u/SupremeEuphoria Aug 31 '26
Oh I know. But for some people, they may not know how to remove other drives, or they may just be inconvenient to get to. I have to pull my GPU out to get my other NVME drive out. So I just modify the script
1
3
u/raincntry Aug 31 '26
I just transitioned to SteamOS as well. I use Mac for my day to day but have scrapped all MS for Linux, and for gaming I installed SteamOS on my new build. It takes a bit to learn the way the desktop functions, but it has been working well. Because I knew I was going to use Steam, I got an AMD 9070xt GPU and it works perfectly on install as Steam integrates with AMD. It took about 20 min for the install and then it was up and running.
2
u/CutEmpty6798 Aug 31 '26
The biggest thing is when you're in desktop mode learning how to do certain things and how they transfer over from Windows. Otherwise when it comes the gaming it's kind of straightforward.... Definitely know from experience I have four systems are in my house. Three of the four are on steam OS now the fourth one wife PC and still windows 11. I've gotten use to daily activities using desktop mode in steamos. All the software I would use on Windows, I was able to either find the same software for Linux or find something similar. And be aware, if you want to use multiple monitors, you have to be in desktop mode. If you go into game mode it's going to fault one of the monitors to be in the main monitor. So depending on which one you want ... You need to shut off the one you do not want to use. I've been on steam OS a month or more been very happy.
1
u/Ecks30 Aug 31 '26
Try to figure out the GPU first because certain older GPUs might not work at all and you do need an NVMe drive in order to install it.
1
u/swizzyeets Aug 31 '26
Check to make sure all the games and programs you want to run are compatible with Linux
1
u/snipsuper415 Aug 31 '26
It doesn't nativity support the xbox one wireless dongle to connect xbox one controllers.
I you need to download software to make that work.
1
u/CatsGoMooz Aug 31 '26
XOne super clutch allowing this to work. I wish it could be just integrated into the kernel but requires proprietary stuff from Microsoft
1
u/snipsuper415 Aug 31 '26
Thanks for mentioning the software i was referring too. Was too lazy to find it.
1
u/RygorX Aug 31 '26
Note Steam OS does not encrypt your drives (so you don’t have the hassle of typing a password on each boot), so if you use the desktop mode for anything sensitive , online banking etc it’s not great. Someone can lift your hardware and simply boot up and have access to everything. I switched to Bazzite for this reason
1
1
0
u/ButterscotchTop194 Aug 31 '26
It's immutable so not great for a daily driver. Good for living room. Try CachyOS if it's for your desktop.
6
u/RumpDoctor Aug 31 '26
If it doesn't work, there are great alternatives that may. So have an open mind to those if you run into any major issues.