this post was submitted on 31 May 2026
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As tree article says, Microsoft bothered to get the game Steam Deck Certified before launch, so they care about Linux devices at least a little bit.
And it does seem to be working on SD. SD verified != Linux verified.
If you didn't know already, the Steam Deck runs SteamOS, which is an immutable distro based on Arch Linux! Pretty neat. Valve has also been investing a lot of effort and money into Proton, the compatibility layer that lets so many Windows games run on Linux!
Valve is also soon releasing the Steam Machine, a little "GabeCube" that also runs SteamOS for kind of a console-PC hybrid. The Steam Controller (2026, why they didn't call it "2" baffles me) will auto-connect with the cube, like how Joy-Cons do with the Switch or the DualSense does with the PS5. They are also making an update to the Valve Index called the "Frame" that can be run standalone with a built-in battery (like the Meta Quest), but it runs SteamOS and doesn't sell your data to the highest bidder (unlike the Quest).
The highlight is that the Frame runs on an ARM chip, meaning Windows x86 non-VR games are translated to be run on a Linux ARM VR headset! Of course, they are using Proton for Windows -> Linux, but they are also investing in something called fex for x86 -> ARM translation. The Frame does lots of other neat tricks too, like "foveated streaming", which means eye-tracking is used to ensure that only the bits you are actively seeing are rendered at full quality, and everybody covering the Frame says it is very accurate, even when the bits you're not seeing are not rendered at all!