Steam Beta Brings New Downloads Page, Linux Container Updates

Written by Michael Larabel in Valve on 29 July 2021 at 06:39 PM EDT. 26 Comments
VALVE
Valve just pushed out a rather significant Steam beta update for gamers across Windows, macOS, and Linux.

This Steam beta update is a bit meatier than normal with a new downloads page implementation, several Linux-specific updates, continued work on SteamVR and Steam Input, along with more.


Among the changes include:

- A new downloads page within the Steam client. This new downloads page is more minimal and focused with a variety of UI/UX improvements over the old design.

- Various Steam Library updates.

- Steam Input is seeing lower CPU usage especially for Steam Input API games. Steam Input also now supports PowerA Xbox Series X controllers.

- Linux container runtime updates for both Scout and Soldier.

- Library pinning on Linux is now significantly faster at start-up.

- Steam has restored compatibility with the NixOS distribution.

- The /usr/share/nvidia directory is now exposed to containers when using the NVIDIA proprietary driver so application/game-specific profiles can be applied.

- Steam on Linux now silences most library preload (LD_PRELOAD) warnings.

- SteamVR now detects the HTC Vive Pro 2 and has a driver install prompt.

Lots of changes with this Steam beta update today. Hopefully more good stuff in the months ahead for the Steam Linux built in the lead-up to the Steam Deck shipping around EOY.

The full list of changes for today's Steam beta update can be found at SteamCommunity.com.
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Michael Larabel is the principal author of Phoronix.com and founded the site in 2004 with a focus on enriching the Linux hardware experience. Michael has written more than 20,000 articles covering the state of Linux hardware support, Linux performance, graphics drivers, and other topics. Michael is also the lead developer of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org automated benchmarking software. He can be followed via Twitter, LinkedIn, or contacted via MichaelLarabel.com.

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