Microsoft attempted to address this with Windows 8, but by forcing touch interface styling to a desktop user they created a massive flop. Adding Windows Mobile trying to do it’s own thing in 2015, and failing to gain market share by not investing enough early enough, and they were solidly outclassed. If they had hot the right points, we might have seen smooth Mobile Microsoft gaming 10 years ago.
What might be the real killer feature of SteamOS is the ability to run a Linux desktop. For $400 one can have both a mobile gaming console that can dock with their television and also dock with a traditional PC for other traditional uses.
SteamOS already runs Linux desktop, at least on the steamdeck (it’s just “switch to desktop” in the power menu). The default desktop environment is KDE plasma. Paired with a USBC laptop dock, you have an easily switchable desktop experience too.
5 GiB is plenty of space for a Linux root filesystem, at least if you move all writeable parts (logs, temporary files, etc.) to different filesystems. Unless you want to install LaTeX, then you probably need 15 GiB or so.
Microsoft attempted to address this with Windows 8, but by forcing touch interface styling to a desktop user they created a massive flop. Adding Windows Mobile trying to do it’s own thing in 2015, and failing to gain market share by not investing enough early enough, and they were solidly outclassed. If they had hot the right points, we might have seen smooth Mobile Microsoft gaming 10 years ago.
What might be the real killer feature of SteamOS is the ability to run a Linux desktop. For $400 one can have both a mobile gaming console that can dock with their television and also dock with a traditional PC for other traditional uses.
SteamOS already runs Linux desktop, at least on the steamdeck (it’s just “switch to desktop” in the power menu). The default desktop environment is KDE plasma. Paired with a USBC laptop dock, you have an easily switchable desktop experience too.
Hopefully they don’t plan to change this!
Just need a fucking printer support
From what I’ve read, you just need to start the CUPS service.
sudo systemctl start cups.serviceStart on boot:
sudo systemctl enable cups.serviceFor such a “stripped down” OS to fit in a 5GB / partition, it is very funny that they included printing but just left it turned off.
5 GiB is plenty of space for a Linux root filesystem, at least if you move all writeable parts (logs, temporary files, etc.) to different filesystems. Unless you want to install LaTeX, then you probably need 15 GiB or so.
However, CUPS has had a fair share of security issues (for instance https://www.evilsocket.net/2024/09/26/Attacking-UNIX-systems-via-CUPS-Part-I/), so it is probably a good idea to have it disabled by default, unless the user needs printer support.