Q14944085
Sign in to saveSteamOS is a gaming-focused operating system released by Valve that incorporates the company's video game storefront, Steam. Based on Arch Linux and built specifically to support Steam, it is the default Linux distribution for Valve's line of gaming hardware, including the Steam Deck, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame. Beginning in 2025, Valve expanded official support to include third-party devices designated as "SteamOS Compatible", such as handhelds like the Lenovo Legion Go and Asus ROG Ally. It can also be installed on personal computers without official support from Valve. The core operatin
Key facts
- OS.name
- SteamOS
- OS.logo
- SteamOS wordmark.svgclass=skin-invert
- OS.screenshot
- KDE Plasma 5.23 on Steam Deck Desktop screenshot.png
- OS.caption
- SteamOS 3.0 "holo" with the KDE Plasma desktop environment running on the Steam Deck
- OS.developer
- Valve
- OS.family
- Unix-like
- OS.kernel type
- Monolithic (Linux)
- OS.working_state
- Current
- OS.source_model
- Open source base system with closed source components
- OS.marketing target
- Gaming
- OS.supported_platforms
- x86-64, ARM64
- OS.userland
- GNU
- OS.ui
- Steam (gaming mode) KDE Plasma (desktop mode)
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- Linux distribution
- Publisher
- Valve Corporation
- Based on
- Q185576
- Developer
- Valve Corporation
- Platform
- x86-64
- Official website
- store.steampowered.com/steamos
- Image
- Steamos desktop.png
Show 11 more facts
- GUI toolkit or framework
- Q115839146
- email address
- mailto:[email protected]
- issue tracker URL
- github.com/ValveSoftware/SteamOS/issues
- software version identifier
- 3.7.20 Beta
- inception
- 2013-12-13
- package management system
- Flatpak
- Commons category
- SteamOS
- update method
- Q230724
- uses
- Steam
- terms of service URL
- store.steampowered.com/steamos/download/?ver=steamdeck&snr=100601___
Sources (7)
via Wikidata · CC0
~16 min read
Encyclopedic overview
16 sectionsContents
- History
- Versions 1.0 and 2.0
- Version 3.0
- Features
- Releases and performance
- SteamOS 1.0
- SteamOS 2.0
- SteamOS 3.0
- Reception
- Pre-release
- SteamOS 1.0
- SteamOS 2.0
- SteamOS 3.0
- See also
- References
- External links
SteamOS is a gaming-focused operating system released by Valve that incorporates the company's video game storefront, Steam. Based on Arch Linux and built specifically to support Steam, it is the default Linux distribution for Valve's line of gaming hardware, including the Steam Deck, Steam Machine, and Steam Frame. Beginning in 2025, Valve expanded official support to include third-party devices designated as "SteamOS Compatible", such as handhelds like the Lenovo Legion Go and Asus ROG Ally. It can also be installed on personal computers without official support from Valve. The core operating system is free and open-source software, while the Steam client remains proprietary.
SteamOS was first released in 2013, with versions 1.0 and 2.0 based on Debian and designed primarily as a client for streaming games over a local network from a gaming PC, with limited support for native gameplay. Valve promoted the platform as part of a broader effort to expand Linux gaming. In 2022, Valve introduced SteamOS 3.0 alongside the launch of the Steam Deck. This version transitioned to an Arch Linux base which used a rolling release model that Valve felt was better suited for hardware support. It has a dual‑mode interface: a console‑style mode powered by Steam's Big Picture UI, and a KDE Plasma desktop environment for traditional computing use. SteamOS 3.0 also incorporates Valve’s Proton compatibility layer, enabling many Windows games to run on Linux.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Q14944085” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.