PlaytronOS: new Linux gaming OS aims to dethrone Windows, SteamOS with support for 'every store'

[Redaktion]

The new Linux-based OS for gaming handhelds throws shade at Windows and SteamOS for being closed platforms. Playtron aims to be a lightweight alternative to Windows and SteamOS, built on open-source software, to offer wide hardware and software compatibility for handheld gaming PCs.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/PlaytronOS-new-Linux-gaming-OS-aims-to-dethrone-Windows-SteamOS-with-support-for-every-store.815079.0.html

[George]

Ok, this may (or not!) be interesting not so much for the handheld gaming folks but those of us with older hardware.

While I have 2 'modern' devices (with WIN11 or could have WIN11 on it) I have a fair number of devices with WIN10 on them and even a fairly good/decent device that is really old that has WIN7 on it.

MS is seemingly constantly 'updating' their OS and changing the UI while they are updating it. Steam has dropped support for WIN7 and MS might be 'picky' on what devices get upgraded to WIN11 or even WIN12.

So there appears to be a MARKET for an ALTERNATE OS that you can run games on that is not MS/WIN specific.

SteamOS might be the 1st choice however at this point I question how deep its device/driver support is. My oldest box has 2xGTX780's in it and the newer ones have GTX1050/60/70's and 1 even has a GTX1650 in it.

Having alternate OS choices to allow keeping these systems in service would be a good thing. Given Steam's abandoning OS's leads me to consider GoG as an alternative however I'm not aware of them having Linux support.

[A]

Ok, this may (or not!) be interesting not so much for the handheld gaming folks but those of us with older hardware.

While I have 2 'modern' devices (with WIN11 or could have WIN11 on it) I have a fair number of devices with WIN10 on them and even a fairly good/decent device that is really old that has WIN7 on it.

MS is seemingly constantly 'updating' their OS and changing the UI while they are updating it. Steam has dropped support for WIN7 and MS might be 'picky' on what devices get upgraded to WIN11 or even WIN12.

So there appears to be a MARKET for an ALTERNATE OS that you can run games on that is not MS/WIN specific.

SteamOS might be the 1st choice however at this point I question how deep its device/driver support is. My oldest box has 2xGTX780's in it and the newer ones have GTX1050/60/70's and 1 even has a GTX1650 in it.

Having alternate OS choices to allow keeping these systems in service would be a good thing. Given Steam's abandoning OS's leads me to consider GoG as an alternative however I'm not aware of them having Linux support.

You don't really need a gaming OS to game, any Linux distro would do. They all have Proton if you want steam and WINE which proton is based on. There are front ends for WINE to make it easier like Lutris, Playonlinux, Bottles and etc. I don't game but quick search says Bottles and Lutris support GOG

Now all you need is a distro that auto installs nvidia drivers for you. Try Linux Mint or PopOS. (You may need to get the latest kernel for new gpu drivers if you have issues)

As far as Steam abandoning OS, unlikely. SteamOS is based on Arch, so the work they do is mostly repackaging plus some closed source components which isn't that much work. The work they put into Proton/WINE is far more than maintaining an Arch variant. Even if they chose to give it up I am sure someone would fork it and replace the closed source components

[julian.vdm]

Ok, this may (or not!) be interesting not so much for the handheld gaming folks but those of us with older hardware.

While I have 2 'modern' devices (with WIN11 or could have WIN11 on it) I have a fair number of devices with WIN10 on them and even a fairly good/decent device that is really old that has WIN7 on it.

MS is seemingly constantly 'updating' their OS and changing the UI while they are updating it. Steam has dropped support for WIN7 and MS might be 'picky' on what devices get upgraded to WIN11 or even WIN12.

So there appears to be a MARKET for an ALTERNATE OS that you can run games on that is not MS/WIN specific.

SteamOS might be the 1st choice however at this point I question how deep its device/driver support is. My oldest box has 2xGTX780's in it and the newer ones have GTX1050/60/70's and 1 even has a GTX1650 in it.

Having alternate OS choices to allow keeping these systems in service would be a good thing. Given Steam's abandoning OS's leads me to consider GoG as an alternative however I'm not aware of them having Linux support.

You don't really need a gaming OS to game, any Linux distro would do. They all have Proton if you want steam and WINE which proton is based on. There are front ends for WINE to make it easier like Lutris, Playonlinux, Bottles and etc. I don't game but quick search says Bottles and Lutris support GOG

Now all you need is a distro that auto installs nvidia drivers for you. Try Linux Mint or PopOS. (You may need to get the latest kernel for new gpu drivers if you have issues)

As far as Steam abandoning OS, unlikely. SteamOS is based on Arch, so the work they do is mostly repackaging plus some closed source components which isn't that much work. The work they put into Proton/WINE is far more than maintaining an Arch variant. Even if they chose to give it up I am sure someone would fork it and replace the closed source components

Even Proton is more or less based on Wine, just with some extra libraries bundled in. Either way, yes, there are plenty of ways to game on Linux nowadays. I suppose a benefit of a high-profile project like Playtron is that it makes people more aware of the fact that you no longer need Windows to game competently.

Bottles and Lutris support GOG, but the best way to play GOG games is just through the Heroic Games Launcher. It supports GOG, Epic Games, and Prime Gaming (for the 3 people that use that).

I've personally used Pop!_OS and Nobara Linux (a tweaked Fedora with a bunch of gaming-centric features). As for SteamOS support on Nvidia, it's currently non-existent. ChimeraOS is pretty much an open-source, community-made version of SteamOS, and even that doesn't really support Nvidia.

[George]

As far as Steam abandoning OS, unlikely. SteamOS is based on Arch, so the work they do is mostly repackaging plus some closed source components which isn't that much work. The work they put into Proton/WINE is far more than maintaining an Arch variant. Even if they chose to give it up I am sure someone would fork it and replace the closed source components

Actually Steam recently abandoned various OSX versions as well as < WIN10.

Given that the SteamDeck is AMD it is understandable that SteamOS does not come with support for Nvidia GPU's.

Having a 'gaming centric' distro package that one could easily drop on a thumb drive and install on whatever system is attractive for those of us with limited knowledge and experience with all the various linux elements needed to game without Windows.

[A]

Actually Steam recently abandoned various OSX versions as well as < WIN10.

By abandoned you mean doesn't support old versions. But SteamOS is based on Arch which is a rolling release. Rolling releases don't have versions, they get updated indefinitely

Given that the SteamDeck is AMD it is understandable that SteamOS does not come with support for Nvidia GPU's.

Having a 'gaming centric' distro package that one could easily drop on a thumb drive and install on whatever system is attractive for those of us with limited knowledge and experience with all the various linux elements needed to game without Windows.

Modern day linux distros made for new users like Mint and PopOS are not much different than using windows. Installing it is pretty much the hard part (And it isn't that hard), once done you will see not much difference. But as mentioned above, there are game centric distros already if that is your cup of tea. But I guarantee you it isn't that hard

You can even give it a try, get ventoy, flash a usb drive and copy the iso of whichever distros you want and boot into them. You can try them without installing via liveusb and see for yourself