Those of you on the Stable branch on Deck should have received an update. A new startup movie has been added for BPM, and many issues have been fixed, including the standalone controller configurator showing at the incorrect browser scale. Patch notes are as follows: General Fixed Steam desktop client browser scaling changing when New Big Picture Mode keyboard or controller configurator are opened New Big Picture Mode Added new startup movie for Big Picture Mode (I tried to get a screenshot of this; the new movie isn’t showing up for me) Fixed issue with Desktop version of Remote Play Together dialogs being displayed while in Big Picture Mode Re-worked “Gifts Pending” page to be gamepad navigable Fixed trackpad typing scale in standalone keyboard in Desktop mode Fixed issue where the Main Menu was visible after exiting, then re-entering Big Picture Mode Fixed standalone controller configurator showing at the incorrect browser scale Stopped showing Steam Deck interstitial screens when in Desktop mode Steam Input

Today’s update to Bottles – an easy way of running Windows-based applications on Linux – fixes GameScope, DLSS, updates translations, rewrites the vkBasalt frontend, and adds other QoL improvements. Patch notes are as follows: Backend: Fix Gamescope arguments by @jntesteves Fix DLSS by @cyberphantom52 Don’t use d3d10 & d3d10_1 dll’s from dxvk by @Blisto91 Frontend: Improve bottle details view by @cyberphantom52 Redesign details view by @cyberphantom52 Add grade tooltips by @TheEvilSkeleton QoL improvements by @TheEvilSkeleton Rewrite vkBasalt frontend by @TheEvilSkeleton Minor consistency fixes by @TheEvilSkeleton Minor improvements for drive selection by @TheEvilSkeleton Fixes:

WinesapOS – the portable Linux distro that lets you use Linux on any flash drive without having to install it – has evolved from alpha to beta to what is now the release candidate. Here’s some noteworthy changes: VirtualBox support in addition to VMware Fusion/Workstation. The latter is recommended for 3D acceleration improved Mac support, with better fan control and Wi-Fi support PolyMC has now been replaced with Prism Launcher for your Minecraft needs improved Xbox and Xbox 360 controller support the NVIDIA Flatpak runtime is now updated whenever the distro is upgraded – this prevents upgrade issues As with the beta release there are some known issues with workarounds:

New update for Wine is now out. Notable features with this update include the OpenGL library converted to PE, support for multi-architecture PE build, and more preparation work for Vulkan 32-on-64 support: OpenGL library converted to PE. Support for multi-architecture PE builds. More preparation work for Vulkan 32-on-64 support. Support for creating import libraries without dlltool. Locale data updates. Various bug fixes. In addition, 25 bugs got fixed, including the black screen fix for Hades when running in Vulkan mode, StarBurn 13 crashing when disabling skins, the fatal error when starting up fotoBiz X, controller fix for Euphoria, as well as a few other titles.

Something that slipped through the cracks regarding yesterday’s SteamOS update is the fact that the update also includes KDE Connect. Basically, KDE Connect allows the user to interact between their smartphone/tablet and the computer. Files can be sent and received between each device. Media can be controlled remotely by the computer and vice versa, and SMS text messages can be sent with the computer. It’s a pretty neat and convenient app that allows you to do work on your computer (in this case, on the Deck) while being able to send tasks to your phone, without even touching it.

Holy crap. And here I thought Valve was never going to update the Arch base. Turns out I was wrong. You might recall back in the summer I wrote about the outdated packages on SteamOS and the security risk that brought. Well, I guess you can finally use Desktop Mode with more peace of mind, now that most everything has been updated. Per Steam’s post, this update “pulls in the latest performance, security and stability fixes for the underlying packages that are the foundation for SteamOS.

Yesterday’s Steam Deck client update (beta) has added a bunch of fixes, particularly for the Downloads page in Game Mode, the OSK, Desktop Mode, and the “New” Big Picture Mode. Patch notes are as follows: General Fixed downloads page crashing when starting in offline mode Downloads page now properly responds to online/offline status Virtual Keyboard now has a maximum width, so that it doesn’t stretch to an unusable size on large screens in Docked mode Desktop Mode

New release of ChimeraOS is out. It’s rather small, but does add a few new features, including the ability to add Wii ROMs via the Chimera app, as well as being able to “select additional artwork on emulated games” for the Steam Deck UI. Some fixes have also been added: Fixed missing Text Editor shortcut in desktop mode Fixed artwork selection for emulated games Fixed additional artwork for Steam games not downloading or applying under certain conditions Fixed external monitor not working on Gamepad/Deck UI Finally, non-Steam shortcuts marked as “hidden” will no longer appear in the Deck UI.

DXVK (DirectX to Vulkan, a translation layer for D3D9/10/11 games, a part of the Proton toolkit) has had quite the upgrade. D3D9 games now have the following: memory management improvements for 32-bit games – “up to several hundred megabytes”! render target feedback loops – you shouldn’t be getting “rendering artifacts” on newer AMD hardware with games like Grand Theft Auto IV alpha test improvements – “fixes inaccuracies in various games,” and games that needed the d3d9.

I must have missed this yesterday. We have a new Deck client update (beta) that mostly focuses on bug fixes for mailto links, third-party Switch controller glyphs, offline mode, and a few others. Patch notes are as follows: Added error dialog for when the user clicks on a mailto link Set scale for startup movies so that the top and bottom of the movie are cropped for 16:9 aspect ratio in docked mode Fixed issue in desktop mode that sometimes made it difficult to drag the Friends List Fixed glyphs for third party Nintendo Switch controllers while streaming Fixed inaccurate location of context menus for the Friends List in desktop mode Fixed a bug that could prevent exiting offline mode in the same session where the client entered offline mode Patch notes can also be read on Steam.