Linux Mint version 21, codenamed “Vanessa,” has been released as a beta. Here’s the rundown for what’s new: based on Ubuntu 22.04 and kernel 5.15 Blueberry has been replaced with Blueman improved thumbnail support notes can be duplicated with the Sticky Notes application an icon now shows up in the taskbar when there’s an automated task running in the background various improvements to XApps Cinnamon has been upgraded to 5.4, with a major rebase of the Muffin window manager and improved window animations improved Software Sources manageability new wallpapers shutdown timer reduced to ten seconds Snap Store is disabled encrypted home directory is no longer unmounted on logout guest sessions is now disabled by default default touchpad driver is now “libinput” rather than “synaptics” other minor changes and improvements Keep in mind this version is currently in beta and the Mint team recommends to only use it for testing purposes.

Not only has the game enjoyed massive popularity – as it sold over one million copies in just its’ first week – but now it’s been ported over to ARM. Any retro gaming device you can think of, such as the ODROID Go Advance or the various ARM-powered devices by Anbernic, can now play this game. Looks like you’ll need to have a copy of the game on Steam first before you can copy it over to your SD card and play on a retro console/handheld.

Small update for the Steam Deck has rolled out today as beta, primarily focusing on bug fixes. Patch notes are as follows:

• Fixed a bug where some flatpak applications (like Edge) couldn't successfully quit - Fixed some issues with claiming Steam Deck digital rewards - Updated keyboard behavior for improved fast typing on trackpad and touchscreen. (pressing a key while holding another key will now commit the held key instead of waiting for first to release) Note that this is a beta client update and, as such, you will need to be opted into the Beta or Preview update branch in System Settings in order to download it.

Today’s update to Proton Experimental is a small one, but a good one for those of you who were recently experiencing issues with either Assassin’s Creed: Origins or Warframe. The former should no longer hang during gameplay after the recent update to the game, and the latter’s launcher should no longer be empty (apparently it was an experimental regression). EDIT: today’s update also enables compatibility with Rift, I had overlooked that!

Just a few minutes ago doitsujin from GitHub released a new version of DXVK, 1.10.2. It’s been a few months since the previous 1.10.1 release. 1.10.2 mostly focuses on bug fixes and adds workarounds for a few specific titles. For example, Star Wars: The Old Republic has had rendering issues fixed. Limbo now has a 60 FPS limit as a workaround for a few bugs. All of this and some other more generic fixes that I couldn’t even attempt to translate into basic English if I tried.

There’s kind of been a reason why I’ve held off from writing a review of the Steam Deck. I’ve had the device for a little longer than three weeks now, and in the process I’ve covered things such as how it handles Super Smash Bros Melee, how it handles the Portal series in comparison to the Nintendo Switch port, written a guide on how to get plugins installed and running, and covered the numerous updates that have come to the device.

Luxtorpeda is a Steam Play compatibility tool for allowing a certain set of games on Steam (mostly pertinent to older titles) to run using a native Linux engine, rather than having to use Proton for a Windows-only game. For instance, Ocean’s Heart has a Windows-only icon on the Steam store page. But with Luxtorpeda, we can force the game to use the native Linux version of Solarus, the engine that powers the game.

Steam Deck QR code for logging in could be coming soon need a guide on emulating Switch games? LTT has you covered (and the video is still up!) new Deck client (which is currently beta) can now automatically scale the Deck UI when connected to an external monitor, plus night time mode can be scheduled avoid using the stock version of Firefox until we get an update to SteamOS I did a quick comparison between the Portal series running on the Deck and the Switch.

This had been Tweeted way back in October, but Pavel Djundik, founder of SteamDB, discovered via datamining that QR code scanning could potentially become a thing on the Steam Deck when logging into your Steam account, as you can see in the cover photo. Well, turns out it could become a reality…within the next couple of weeks I would imagine, as Pavel recently replied to his own Tweet and said:

Whelp, looks like LTT beat me to the Switch emulation guide I was planning on doing. But that’s not the point of this post. Content creators – and small ones, at that – have had their videos ripped off their channel from the DMCA-hungry lawyers at Nintendo just for showing off gameplay footage of Switch games being emulated on the Deck. Well, Anthony from LTT decided to take matters into his own hands, braced himself, and put up a full guide on how to emulate Switch games on Deck (mind you, he’s doing it through a completely legal means).