It's time to pay our respects to an old friend. After over a decade, Steam has finally replaced its Big Picture Mode, a feature introduced all the way back in 2012. It was designed to offer a more console-like UI experience, for gamers using a controller and TV rather than mouse and keyboard and monitor. Valve had been looking to replace the aging UI with something more akin to the look and style of the Steam Deck's UI. It was announced in mid 2021 that Big Picture Mode would be overhauled, and after months of testing, the public release is available to everyone. A full list of changes and tweaks can be found in the patch notes from the new client update.
does this mean that the menu in SteamVR uses this UI now too? I like the new big picture but it's still pretty buggy even on my steam deck, Valve's UIs always get the job done but they're never that good imo
It's starting to feel like Windows is finally losing ground in favor of other OSes and the mess they did with Windows 11.
Microsoft has more or less one last chance with Windows 12 in that if they don't take it back to it being a traditional/desktop OS, then they risk losing loyal customers who have been with them for decades. Windows 11 looks and feels like a tablet UI forced upon desktop users.
Resellers inside the country selling it here have it starting from USD$1,000 or USD$1,200 for the 64GB model. Sometimes a strange reseller having fair prices shows up in local Amazon-like pages, but it's over as soon as you try to buy.
Importing is not an option as it usually gets lost in customs because of how corrupt it is where I live. Resellers basically go to USA and get lots of consoles and somehow get them into the country without paying the full importing taxes (again, corrupt country), but still, sell the consoles 3x or 4x their MSRP price in USA.
For USD$1,200 I can get a Ryzen 7 5000 series CPU with an RX6700XT and a decent screen.
I have a Steam Deck (biased, I know) so this is a very natural transition for me.
That being said, the UI still isn't perfect, you do have some glitches/bugs that you can run into unexpectedly (had the keyboard glitch out on me once or twice before stabilizing). However, I argue it's a bit easier to follow.
I very much welcome this change. Steam Deck UI looks fresh and clean, and Big Picture mode seems stale. This has been needed in my opinion for awhile. I hope they release Steam Deck OS (the arch based one, not that debian based one that's been rotting away for years) to the public soon. I think that will be a great alternative for someone who just wants to play games. Maybe some system integrators can team up with Valve to distribute it, especially now that proton has matured so much)
As for the Windows vs Linux comments. Windows 11 is fine. I haven't tried home myself so I can't comment on the online accounts thing, though I assume it's just like home with 10 where all you have to do is disconnect from the internet and it won't force you into an online account. My biggest gripe with it is the system requirements. they're artificially imposed, because I can easily run Windows 11 on an ivy-bridge based laptop. But it's still windows at it's core, and it's a fine OS. ANY os can become unstable. I have spent weeks tweaking some of my devices on Arch because of some arbitrary reason or another.
and no, Windows isn't going to the wayside. Never was, never will. There have been alternatives to windows since Windows was a thing, but they have many markets cornered, for good reason. Windows isn't bad, and for businesses, it makes it incredibly easy to deploy and control. What are the alternatives? Apple? hah. good luck being stuck with their hardware, their software, and their rules. Windows is pretty open all things considered for a proprietary OS. GNU/Linux? Too difficult for a normie to work with(emphasis on normie. they just want their stuff to work, and let's be honest, many times, GNU/Linux needs tweaking to work) This is coming from a GNU/Linux user. I love Linux, and hope that it continues to gain footing, but I don't expect it to become the next big thing like most fanboys are hoping it will. Most of them will be mad that it's a mainstream OS if it ever does anyway.
does this mean that the menu in SteamVR uses this UI now too? I like the new big picture but it's still pretty buggy even on my steam deck, Valve's UIs always get the job done but they're never that good imo
The UI of the new update is actually quite good. Though I'm worried about how it'll impact performance. I'm the kind of person who wants as much of my resources free as possible.
It's starting to feel like Windows is finally losing ground in favor of other OSes and the mess they did with Windows 11.
Microsoft has more or less one last chance with Windows 12 in that if they don't take it back to it being a traditional/desktop OS, then they risk losing loyal customers who have been with them for decades. Windows 11 looks and feels like a tablet UI forced upon desktop users.
It's basically DRM that's keeping people on Windows. The only thing that really stops the Adobe CC software and a lot of plugins for video and audio processing (as well as some DAWs) is restrictive DRM, either through checking what the OS is, or needing something like an iLok or internet connection.
The UI of the new update is actually quite good. Though I'm worried about how it'll impact performance. I'm the kind of person who wants as much of my resources free as possible.
I'm guessing that the new UI probably doesn't use any more resources than the old one. The old UI didn't have to be optimized that well since it was made for super powerful steam machines, but this new one needs to have very little overhead to be running in the background of the steam deck at all times
It's time to pay our respects to an old friend. After over a decade, Steam has finally replaced its Big Picture Mode, a feature introduced all the way back in 2012. It was designed to offer a more console-like UI experience, for gamers using a controller and TV rather than mouse and keyboard and monitor. Valve had been looking to replace the aging UI with something more akin to the look and style of the Steam Deck's UI. It was announced in mid 2021 that Big Picture Mode would be overhauled, and after months of testing, the public release is available to everyone. A full list of changes and tweaks can be found in the patch notes from the new client update.
Just tried this out on my Linux machine and boy have I been waiting for this. Honestly, it's a really fluid "console" experience and I have no complaints so far. Good work Valve
i still have yet to understand the issue with this. you didn't really lose functionality with it and the bigger icons are great for visibility.
More importantly if he wanted to access all those settings so bad just pin the control panel to the taskbar....
maybe it's just me, i used windows 7 a lot in the past and while those settings and options are nice and quick to get to the simple fact is that you won't be using them a lot. The one time i went to the older audio panel in 10 was to customize my headphones so they ran at a lower frequency just so an exe that i was trying to use would work.... that's it kek
and as for bloatware, there isn't much on my PC. all that tiktok and Instagram bs is all really nothing but shortcuts you can quickly delete and be done with, they aren't actually installed
I however really miss the skeuomorphic aero design, and i wish Windows would bring back themes just so we could have that back, Win7 had really extensive theming capabilities baked into the OS, it could look like Windows 98 if you wanted to, it was super cool
I'd use Linux but my hardware isn't really there for it, i bought a motherboard without wifi (also only one PCIE x16 slot) so i have to use this wifi adapter which windows recognized and used immediately. Linux Mint however doesn't seem to support it so uh im kinda fucked, unless i get a powerline adapter and ethernet cable (and those aren't 100%, they can be spotty at times)
Also to be frank I am NOT going to use an OS that can't natively support windows apps because when it comes compatibility i simply want the EXEs and programs I downloaded to work with no fuss, which is the case for every single Windows i've used, Xp, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11 you name it.
If i ever encountered an error starting up an application it was always a hardware or driver issue.
Linux brings up the possibility of the OS or compatibility layer being an issue and as long as that's a thing i can never 100% switch to it in good faith. And trust me I'd LOVE for Linux to become the new defacto OS, the customization and freedom in that is amazing. But the simple fact is that the task of a computer in my eyes is to run applications and games, and if they arent supported on my PC i simply wont use it. This is also why I've never bothered to use MacOS, though that also has to due with Macs being overpriced and apple always leaving a trail of terrible hardware design decisions in their wake
I wrote way too much here LOL
I personally think it will and Windows will start losing market share throughout the coming decade. The simple fact is that people have always hated windows since 8 and Valve jumping on the Linux train is going to convince the gamers (basically the last set of people who commercially use windows at home for any reason, the creatives use Mac, the programmers use Linux, and the casuals use Androids or Iphones) to jump onto Linux. And then afterwards Windows will just be a business OS for the corporations who refuse to update their software.
There's also the very real possibility that Mac can be eating into Windows's market share too since the new M1/M2 macbooks are insane for what they do. I'd say it's gonna be a rocky decade for Microsoft but they've pretty much focused all their efforts on azure, cloud and Office 365. Even Windows isn't their priority anymore
i still have yet to understand the issue with this. you didn't really lose functionality with it and the bigger icons are great for visibility.
More importantly if he wanted to access all those settings so bad just pin the control panel to the taskbar....
maybe it's just me, i used windows 7 a lot in the past and while those settings and options are nice and quick to get to the simple fact is that you won't be using them a lot. The one time i went to the older audio panel in 10 was to customize my headphones so they ran at a lower frequency just so an exe that i was trying to use would work.... that's it kek
and as for bloatware, there isn't much on my PC. all that tiktok and Instagram bs is all really nothing but shortcuts you can quickly delete and be done with, they aren't actually installed
I however really miss the skeuomorphic aero design, and i wish Windows would bring back themes just so we could have that back, Win7 had really extensive theming capabilities baked into the OS, it could look like Windows 98 if you wanted to, it was super cool
I'd use Linux but my hardware isn't really there for it, i bought a motherboard without wifi (also only one PCIE x16 slot) so i have to use this wifi adapter which windows recognized and used immediately. Linux Mint however doesn't seem to support it so uh im kinda fucked, unless i get a powerline adapter and ethernet cable (and those aren't 100%, they can be spotty at times)
Also to be frank I am NOT going to use an OS that can't natively support windows apps because when it comes compatibility i simply want the EXEs and programs I downloaded to work with no fuss, which is the case for every single Windows i've used, Xp, Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, 10, 11 you name it.
If i ever encountered an error starting up an application it was always a hardware or driver issue.
Linux brings up the possibility of the OS or compatibility layer being an issue and as long as that's a thing i can never 100% switch to it in good faith. And trust me I'd LOVE for Linux to become the new defacto OS, the customization and freedom in that is amazing. But the simple fact is that the task of a computer in my eyes is to run applications and games, and if they arent supported on my PC i simply wont use it. This is also why I've never bothered to use MacOS, though that also has to due with Macs being overpriced and apple always leaving a trail of terrible hardware design decisions in their wake
I wrote way too much here LOL
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I personally think it will and Windows will start losing market share throughout the coming decade. The simple fact is that people have always hated windows since 8 and Valve jumping on the Linux train is going to convince the gamers (basically the last set of people who commercially use windows at home for any reason, the creatives use Mac, the programmers use Linux, and the casuals use Androids or Iphones) to jump onto Linux. And then afterwards Windows will just be a business OS for the corporations who refuse to update their software.
There's also the very real possibility that Mac can be eating into Windows's market share too since the new M1/M2 macbooks are insane for what they do. I'd say it's gonna be a rocky decade for Microsoft but they've pretty much focused all their efforts on azure, cloud and Office 365. Even Windows isn't their priority anymore
Plenty of creatives use Windows too. Macs are popular with schools and studios is because of volume pricing discounts.
Now I would like to see Ubuntu or another Debian based OS become the standard eventually, but it'll need proper software support, or at least need companies like Adobe to stop using DRM that prevents their software from running on Linux (cracked versions run just fine), and Linux-based operating systems will need to become as user friendly as Windows. I'd actually put a donate a fair bit of money for that to happen, there's no reason we shouldn't have a GUI tool to adjust a lot of system settings if it requires superuser permissions to actually apply changes.
What makes windows an unanimous OS is their API, that's why they get away with tons of missteps like Windows Vista. I'm a mint fanboy, and still use windows as first OS because whoever developed the tools I use to work did it above a thing that already existed, and that thing was build using windows APIs. Millions of low budget software are just like that and that's unfortunate.
About importing the Steam Deck, I don't know about Mexico but for Brazil it not worth it. Valve won't sell, no matter what, so you need to buy from a scalper that probably is US based. US based sellers use services like FedEx and UPS so it's 100% guaranteed that you will be taxed (here the tax is 60% based on local price of the good), also those services are expansive on their own (and the shipping is subject to taxation too).
In the end the cost will something between $850 and $1000. On that price range the Chinese handhelds are just a more rational choice. There are more powerful devices then the deck on the horizon and way cheaper (and weaker) options already available. (Chinese sellers usually use public mail service both there and here, so it's cheap shipping or even free shipping. Not all parcels are custom inspected on our public mail company here, so most times you pay no tax).
So has politics, yet that go shoved in here. Epic doesn't have a currently successful proprietary gaming device with a thriving community surrounding it. Steam pulled a reverse Sega and became a "major console" with the Steam Deck. It would be handy to have a specific spot to come to for Steam deck accessories, UI tips, workarounds and technobabble, instead of having yet another website to have to post and check.
So has politics, yet that go shoved in here. Epic doesn't have a currently successful proprietary gaming device with a thriving community surrounding it. Steam pulled a reverse Sega and became a "major console" with the Steam Deck. It would be handy to have a specific spot to come to for Steam deck accessories, UI tips, workarounds and technobabble, instead of having yet another website to have to post and check.
there's at least 2 buttons to go to the discussions page at any time from within the client itself, one on every single game page, and one under the "community" category
do you even use steam?
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