Steam Client Now Features Hardware Acceleration on Linux
The latest stable release of Steam includes a feature that Linux gamers have been waiting for that brings a much-improved experience.
Steam helped to herald in an age of gaming on Linux like no other software. But for the longest time, Linux users had to deal with performance issues that made it lag behind that of Windows. Animations would often lag and the UI (as a whole) wasn't nearly as responsive as it should be.
Say goodbye to those performance issues, thanks to the latest stable update of the platform. With the latest iteration, users can finally take advantage of hardware acceleration on Linux. The only caveat to this new addition is that it's not quite stable with NVIDIA GPUs, when running on the aging X11 protocol. Because of that, hardware acceleration is disabled (by default) for machines using NVIDIA GPUs. At the same time, DPI scaling may be problematic with acceleration switched off.
Other features for the new release include better KDE Plasma support, more options for notifications, an overhauled in-game overlay, new notes functionality (that includes rich text formatting, image pasting, and offline functionality), greatly improved visuals (including dialogs, menus, fonts, and colors), and numerous bug fixes.
You can read the full release notes from the official Steam blog. To update your Steam client, open the app and go to Steam > Check for Steam Client Updates. If there's an update available, make sure to apply it to enjoy these exciting new additions to the Linux version.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Halcyon Creates Anti-Ransomware Protection for Linux
As more Linux systems are targeted by ransomware, Halcyon is stepping up its protection.
-
Valve and Arch Linux Announce Collaboration
Valve and Arch have come together for two projects that will have a serious impact on the Linux distribution.
-
Hacker Successfully Runs Linux on a CPU from the Early ‘70s
From the office of "Look what I can do," Dmitry Grinberg was able to get Linux running on a processor that was created in 1971.
-
OSI and LPI Form Strategic Alliance
With a goal of strengthening Linux and open source communities, this new alliance aims to nurture the growth of more highly skilled professionals.
-
Fedora 41 Beta Available with Some Interesting Additions
If you're a Fedora fan, you'll be excited to hear the beta version of the latest release is now available for testing and includes plenty of updates.
-
AlmaLinux Unveils New Hardware Certification Process
The AlmaLinux Hardware Certification Program run by the Certification Special Interest Group (SIG) aims to ensure seamless compatibility between AlmaLinux and a wide range of hardware configurations.
-
Wind River Introduces eLxr Pro Linux Solution
eLxr Pro offers an end-to-end Linux solution backed by expert commercial support.
-
Juno Tab 3 Launches with Ubuntu 24.04
Anyone looking for a full-blown Linux tablet need look no further. Juno has released the Tab 3.
-
New KDE Slimbook Plasma Available for Preorder
Powered by an AMD Ryzen CPU, the latest KDE Slimbook laptop is powerful enough for local AI tasks.
-
Rhino Linux Announces Latest "Quick Update"
If you prefer your Linux distribution to be of the rolling type, Rhino Linux delivers a beautiful and reliable experience.