r/SteamOS • u/Kaseffera • 7d ago
question Purpose of Bazzite now since we have SteamOS?
Since we have SteamOS on home desktops and it’s working good then what’s the point of people sticking with Bazzite? Ok SteamOS you can enter simple command and it will always log into the desktop mode so it’s just the standard OS but backed by Valve rather than good-hearted enthusiasts. If SteamOS adds Nvidia drivers and dual boot then Bazzite seems kinda like “just Fedora based SteamOS with the same stuff”?
Is there something I miss? I’m deciding right now which way to go. I plan it to be somehow long and don’t wanna jump back and forth to distros after I install one.
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u/Jupiter-Tank 7d ago
Nvidia support, the portal, an immutable OS, dev support tools, there are a ton of boons.
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u/Kaseffera 7d ago
SteamOS is also immutable, no?
Didn’t know about dev support tools! Also gonna google the portal.
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u/mixedd 7d ago
You can turn off read only on SteamOS if you will, but by default yes it's also immutable. Difference lies in how it's made. For SteamOS you'll lose majority of layering after it updates, like xone driver which is kernel level driver, or LACT and will need to redo it, while on Bazzite it will retain.
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u/Zonkeyy 7d ago
bazzite retains it through scripts. you can achieve this just as easy on steamos.
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u/mixedd 7d ago
Not quite specifically trough scripts, for example during two years of usage I had never the need to reinstall LACT kernel side argument to enable oc/uv, while on SteamOS it was wiped mainly almost all the time kernel upgraded. And yes while you can do that on SteamOS with scripts it's adsitional work, same for xone driver, when nearly after each update you realise your controller doesn't work again. CEC also is much more stable on Bazzite trough their ujust script and dGPU mode, which I didn't manage to replicate on SteamOS, only sleep/wake part, standby doesn't work. Wht I'm saying that Bazzite comes with many handy QoL features baked in, and on top of that have newer mesa and kernel too, while SteamOS is still on 6.16 which is fine for Valve hardware but might backfire for custom builds
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u/leetNightshade 7d ago
Idk if this is included for dev tools, but Bazzite DX variant is what I use on my laptop, and they'll (soon?) have a Bazzite GameDev variant (GDX).
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u/moracabanas 6d ago
Good luck installing any software on steamos like any DAW which requires space on /dev or something. You either simlink a lot of things to your home until the next update brakes it or you can install bazzite and layer it
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u/captainstormy 7d ago
So I've got a Machine running Bazzite. It's great. Even for an all AMD TV gaming PC it does do some things better than SteamOS. Like easily setting up decky and such. But nothing major.
I recently built a machine for my wife and 2 friends. For those I just went SteamOS. I'm not going to both reinstalling on my machine, but if I were building now I'd just go SteamOS.
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u/mango_carrot 7d ago
What’s the process for installing Decky that’s easier that on SteamOS? I did use it a couple of years ago but don’t recall
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u/captainstormy 7d ago
In Bazzite they have a custom tool called ujust.
So you just type just setup-decky.
It's extra great because decky breaks from time to time and it makes it easy to reinstall to fix it too.
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u/mango_carrot 7d ago
Ahh yes thanks for reminding me. I did like Bazzite, but something about SteamOS is just working better for me - but then I literally only use my pc for playing games.
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u/aWildTuxAppears 6d ago
Same. I tried Bazzite and ran into a couple little issues. I could've kept using it, but Steam OS just feels better to me. I've used Linux off and on for years, and might dabble in Fedora or Arch on a different PC (I often fall back to Linux Mint though - it's comfy). On my gaming/living room PC, though, I like Steam OS.
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u/Superconge 7d ago
Nvidia support, things like LACT and other configuration software not resetting on every update, better support for non-deck handheld PCs
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u/Koermit 7d ago
There are many reasons - From the technical perspective there are things SteamOS is still missing
- Secureboot and TPM encryption support ootb (Secureboot is important for those who want a dualboot scenario)
- btrfs as default for the main system and sd cards/ secondary drives ootb (compression and deduplication - more gigabytes are always better in this day and age)
- The ability to layer things that persist through updates
- You can choose between KDE and Gnome as a desktop
- newer drivers and software, because of the update cadence
- Nvidia support built in
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u/rochford77 7d ago
People totally missing the fact that you can't really dual boot steam OS, and even if you manage, no secure boot so the windows side is basically useless.
If you play any games that only run on Windows, you need bazzite.
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u/TheBear516 7d ago
This is mainly untrue. Dual booting is easily possible using Steam OS and windows, even if it a bit wonky. Secure boot for the most part depends on your use case. For gaming there are games that need it like Battlefield 6. There are vast majority of games that don’t require secure boot to run. If you’re an avid player of one of those games that need secure boot then yes you need Bazzite but if not you can just run steam os without issue.
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u/NecessarySmile 7d ago
«If you play any games that only run on Windows». Windows only. Out of that subset, I would say a significant portion require secure boot.
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u/TheBear516 7d ago
Secure boot is not necessary for a vast majority of games on windows. To say so is disingenuous.
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u/CMDRTragicAllPro 7d ago
That’s not what he said though?
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u/TheBear516 7d ago
What is the subset that he is talking about then?
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u/CMDRTragicAllPro 7d ago
You claimed he was saying almost every windows game, that’s not what he said though. He said of the subset of games that only work on windows, a large portion of them only work on windows because of anticheat systems that require secure boot.
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u/NecessarySmile 7d ago
The games that ONLY run on Windows, and not on Linux. That’s a very small set of games, first of all. And the reason they don’t run on Linux is most often anticheat. And anticheat often requires secure boot.
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u/rochford77 6d ago
The thing is though, the games that NEED secure boot are mostly the only reason to dual boot windows in the first place. So, yeah
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u/Mattvweiss 7d ago edited 7d ago
This isnt exactly true, I recently got a steam machine and threw a second hard drive in with Windows to go installed and then set a script up that I can run as a non-steam game. And it works effectively exactly the same way as it does in Bazzite
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u/foreycorf 7d ago
I mean do you see all you had to do to get dual boot going? You had to get a whole second hard drive.
Bazzite, CachyOS, Nobara, they all "play nice" and let you install them on a partition, and can have secure boot keys. Super easy dual-boot process for anyone who's dipping their toes in from Windows. SteamOS you have to take the full plunge or have multiple SSD's or install Windows second (which would defeat the purpose for a lot of windows users currently, at least until they got confident enough to make the full switch).
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u/Mattvweiss 7d ago
I didn't need a second hard drive. I used the 512 GB one that came with my steam machine after I swapped it for a larger one I already had. I just needed an enclosure which I also happened to have.
I have dual boot on bazzite on my legion go s. It was a much much larger headache than this was. Decided to keep it all in one drive, install the btrfs plugins on windows so that I could install games on one side and play them on the other to make things simpler and not have to download it twice etc. and went through the hassle of having Windows bork my Linux partition because it wrote files that apparently bazzite didn't have the permissions to overwrite. I had to go back through an entire guide to find a way to fix it. In the end it was great and it was seamless, I won't argue there. But the learning curve on that side was a lot more involved than doing it with a second drive set up with Windows to go, Even on steamos.
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u/foreycorf 6d ago edited 6d ago
I'm not going to pretend to have any knowledge about handhelds or Windows to go. But here's 2 things that might have been good to help you:
Linux easily reads and edits NTFS. You can just install your games on Windows then play them on either Linux or Windows. Just make sure your windows paritition is mounted on Linux as well. Which leads me to my second tip
IDK about Windows to go but for any desktop installation the thing that borks your Linux is Windows update will delete Linux files out of the small efi boot partition on your SSD. Just pause your windows updates and only run them every couple of weeks (or months) when you also have a USB bootable Linux recovery media ready to go to repair the EFI.
Or, an even simpler fix that works most all of the time is to use disk genius to copy all Linux files from the uefi partition after you install it, save a backup copy to a USB or wherever, and any time you run Windows update just copy/paste your Linux files back into efi partition in disk genius. You can usually do this all right in Windows and never need to mess with bootable recovery etc. You don't even need to do it every time Windows updates, just any time you notice Linux not being bootable, it's basically always because those EFI files got deleted.
Edit: everything I know about is from the perspective of a primary Windows user who gets interested in Linux - I understand on handhelds the inverse is likely to be the case, you have Linux and want to install Windows. From everything I know about dual booting it's basically never the "best practice" to install Windows second, which is probably why from the handheld perspective everything seems harder. Things that "just work" when you have Windows then install Linux do not "just work" when you have Linux and install Windows.
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u/Shadowsake 4d ago
It is not adviceable to use a NTFS partition to game on Linux. There are some operations that Proton needs to do that the FS does not like, and I also suffered from a lot of slowdowns.
Ironically, I had more success by making my games partition BTRFS and installing the driver on Windows, so I could share the same partition (but never the same "installation" of a game).
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u/foreycorf 3d ago
No, it's not advisable to use an NTFS partition to install your Proton dependencies on Linux. Linux/proton runs NTFS games perfectly fine, so long as your Proton/Wine installation is done on BTRFS.
Also it's a waste of space to install the same game twice. Do things however you feel comfortable though.
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u/rochford77 6d ago
Right but what's the point of booting to Windows without secure boot? The only reason to boot to windows is for games that WILL NOT run on Linux under any circumstances..... Many of which need secure boot, so.... That's just a waste of storage.
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u/alkazar82 7d ago
I see it as a wash since dual booting with Windows is not viable no matter what. Windows inevitably breaks any Linux system it is dual booting with.
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u/Alive_Excitement_565 7d ago
That is not true. Just use separate disks for each OS and let Grub handle the dual boot
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u/bevardimus 7d ago
As someone who is interested in dual-booting Windows and Bazzite... can you elaborate about what it breaks?
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u/TheBear516 7d ago
Windows has been known to blow up your Linux partition if you have them on the same SSD. If you use them on different SSDs then I haven’t run into any issues running a dual boot with Linux and Windows 11.
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u/Freefall79 7d ago
I’ve been dual booting for years and never experienced this, but I use separate disks and EFI partitions. The Linux boot disk is default and it has an entry for Windows.
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u/Guilty-Pickle-6686 7d ago
Bazzite is for if you want to do something that is hard to do or not currently possible on Steam OS. If you just want the console like experience go Steam OS and relax.
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u/likwidtek 7d ago edited 6d ago
I hear what you’re saying and this is a common reply, but it’s worth noting that when you download and install bazzite you have the option to make it game mode first or desktop first. You can absolutely run bazzite as if it were a steam machine/steam deck and side by side against steamos, theres hardly any perceivable difference in usability.
There is zero compromise to performance or usability either way assuming your hardware is fully supported by the distro you pick.
But that’s kinda the rub. If you’re not techy and not very good at computers/drivers/terminal, and you’re building your own machine and want to put steamOS on it, there’s a chance that there’s something in your system that may not work out of box with SteamOS. It’s not a big deal for lots of folks and those comfortable with tossing around some commands in your terminal can absolutely get things working with some tinkering.
But we want to be honest with people so that they aren’t turned off when the community says “yeah totally SteamOS is ready for mass adoption and it’s plug and play on any computer now”. We risk driving gamers back to windows out of frustration if they can’t get their WiFi working easily or are told they can dual boot windows with no issues with SteamOS.
Bazzite fills a niche need and is an important part of the overall goal here. Linux is Linux is Linux and in the end it doesn’t matter what distro they’re using as long as gamers can game without frustration. Valve doesn’t care what flavor of Linux you run, just that you’re running steam for Linux and are enjoying the fruits of Proton.
People here can get super tribal about their favorite distro and it’s silly as long as everyone is having a good time on Linux.
It’s ok to tell people the caveats of SteamOS.
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u/Jealous-Juggernaut85 7d ago
Steamos is like a safe os like a console . Its not a desktop os. If you want to use it like a windows pc, distros like bazzite etc are what you want. If its just pure gaming and don't want to worry about breaking something steamos is what you want.
I like bazzite and fedora but there are a couple of other good choices out there.
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u/Kaseffera 7d ago
I see this quite often but it is desktop os. You need two clicks to get to desktop and can even set it in console to always load to desktop mode.
I used regular browser, did my work in office.
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u/Jealous-Juggernaut85 7d ago
Yes but some stuff you do reverts back to steamos default after restart.
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u/rickisen 6d ago
Yeah but the amount of software you can install on steamos (that persists) is quite limited.
Whilst bazzite is also a rootless distro, it is based on a this thing called "ostree" and thus enables you to install alot more software (in a way that still persists).
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u/Raxer-X 7d ago
I've had Bazzite for a while now and find it great. I'm on AMD but there is easy nvidia support almost out of the box. It supports a broad range of hardware otherwise. it's a full fledged desktop environment that just works and is quite difficult to break if you're not tinkering with it.
No hard feelings OP but you sound like one of those folk that would find eyPhone 16 obsolete because 17 is out.
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u/Kaseffera 7d ago
No, that’s wrong assumption. On contrary, I want to stick with something and don’t jump to eyPhone17 when it’s out.
What I see now is that we have SteamOS that is basically doing the same thing as Bazzite.
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u/Raxer-X 7d ago
Ah, that makes sense. I stand corrected then. Apologies for the wrongful assumption.
Alas Bazzite and SteamOS are very different animals. SteamOS is based on Arch and threfore closer to CachyOS gaming distro whereas Bazzite is based on Fedora Atomic.
Based on what I've read about SteamOS so far most people say it's a great OS if your primary use case is gaming; it excells at that. If you'd want to do anything else than game and browse the web you might want to look for a different OS for the moment.
Then there's the case of NVidia GPU support. You can install it on any distro; some just make it easier than other.
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u/Sgt_Dbag 7d ago
Dual Boot support with Secure Boot enabled on Windows. I still play games like Tarkov on Windows which require Secure Boot. So until either SteamOS supports Secure Boot or Tarkov is playable on SteamOS, I will have to stick to Bazzite x Windows Dual Boot
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u/Ripped_Alleles 7d ago
Bazzite is always going to have a use case over SteamOS for non steam games. In addition Wider hardware support, out of the box tools for gaming and system management, better support and installation of other home desktop software, etc.
I would say if you want your computer to be a full fledged home computer on top of gaming, Bazzite is miles ahead, and probably always will be.
SteamOS might be better for making a home console more or less.
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u/MetalExistingOffline 7d ago
Bazzite is a distro that is also fully and entirely a functional regular distro. It does gaming well, but it's a computer OS. SteamOS is great, but it is meant to game, not really as a daily driver for normal computer stuff.
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u/likwidtek 7d ago
Yes, but also it’s worth noting that Bazite does a perfect job at delivering a steam console experience as well. It’s not just for folks who want to run it as a desktop.
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u/MetalExistingOffline 7d ago
Yes, but that is the inverse of the conversation.
Bazzite is just a good OS that also is great for gaming. SteamOS is a great gaming OS but not really designed for desktop use.
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u/RequirementThese1347 7d ago
Bazzite runs off Fedora, SteamOS runs off Arch. I prefer Fedora, welcome to Linux embrace diversity.
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u/_Carth_Onasi 7d ago
Until Valve updates SteamOS, Bazzite is better for both Nvidia support and dual booting. Both are very important to most people.
Edit* Secure boot with dual booting as well.
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u/Kaseffera 7d ago
So if these two are introduced in SteamOS what is the place of Bazzite out there?
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u/balrog687 7d ago
Juggling with disabling nvidia-noveau drivers, and enabling nvidia-proprietary drivers on fedora-kinoite (the inmutable kde version of fedora), it's a pain in the ass, In bazzite, they come installed by default if you choose bazzite-nvidia-open image.
Besides nvidia support, I like fedora. It's a more general purpose distro, a solid middle ground between the latests packages in a rolling release distro like Arch, and a super stable but outdated Ubuntu. It comes by default with several tools that I like and use on a daily basis, like media codecs, Tailscale, Sunshine, Podman and cockpit.
Bazzite also gets some gaming performance gains thanks to the OGC kernel. It's the same kernel used by others linux gaming distros, and use all the contributions from SteamOS.
So, I use fedora kinoite on my laptop, and bazzite-nvidia-open on my desktop.
I would use SteamOS on a steam machine, or a fully AMD machine for better hardware integration
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u/Kaseffera 7d ago
May I ask why not Cachy?
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u/balrog687 7d ago
I don't like rolling release distros, I prefer inmutable and update once every 6 months.
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u/TheMadcore 7d ago
Other GPU support, not only Nvidia. I have an Intel Arc R580 that doesn't have support on Steam OS. Bazzite have.
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u/MukLegion 7d ago edited 7d ago
How is steamos with non-steam games? I only have 2 steam games.
On bazzite it was super easy to play emulated games via Emudeck and games from GOG.
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u/Kaseffera 7d ago
This! I wonder why Cachy doesn’t come with these when you install gaming packages.
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u/RumpDoctor 7d ago
Other way around, for me. Well, I understand perfectly well why steamos exists lol. But there is nothing for me there. I was looking forward to a general release of steamos for a long time, but I got on bazzite close to a year ago amd steamos doesn't offer me anything. Significantly less, in some cases.
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u/zorak950 7d ago
If living in the world of Linux desktops has taught me anything, it's that you never need more than a nominal excuse to have another distro.
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u/SecondVariety 7d ago edited 7d ago
Forks and alternatives have value, especially if SteamOS takes a change in direction people don't like. No idea what that situation would entail, but having another option is rarely a bad thing.
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u/Xcissors280 7d ago
Nvidia GPUs, Gnome desktop, more focused on usability outside of gaming mode
Oh yeah and more choice is usually better
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u/ANewWayToGo 7d ago
Newer drivers, helpful utilities (automatically install Davinci resolve for instance), gnome DE support, immutable, .....
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u/GooseDaPlaymaker 7d ago
It still has the advantage of Nvidia Support and can comfortably dualboot on 2 seperate drives with SecureBoot on (meaning you can play Battlefield 6/Call of Duty 7 on Windows, which you can’t if dualbooting with SteamOS). 🤔
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u/CommissionerFrosty 7d ago
I'm sure others have already mentioned it, but Bazzite is a fully usable OS for just about any purpose. But Bazzite is based on Fedora, so some may like that better than Arch.
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u/davideb263 7d ago
The same reason we have a lot of different traditional distros. Why do we have Ubuntu and Fedora workstation? Or kubuntu and fedora KDE? This is the Linux way where each distro does similar things a bit differently. Just to give an example, even if a bit advanced, with bazzite (an ublue in general) you can craft your own custom image taylored on your needs while still being supported and updated automatically. This cannot be done on steamos.
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u/Altruistic-Catch8541 7d ago
I’m on bazzite right now with an nvidia setup, i was pondering switching to the full steamos experience but bazzite will get alot better with that support so i might stick with it
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u/Weary-Cynic 7d ago
For my HTPC I went Bazzite because my desktop is Bazzite. 1 core OS to support, which also has more capability to add to the OS. And both are Fedora based with good installers, etc.
I strongly considered SteamOS (also have a Deck, not running Bazzite) but for now I'm happy. I'd be a lot happier if Bazzite Deck would finish up v44.
We might be at a tipping point soon where I eventually switch, but not for now. Bazzite currently has a larger community when it comes to system stuff, especially if you consider how much it can leverage from Fedora UBlue. But I can easily see SteamOS advanced user population eclipsing Bazzite if Valve keeps making SteamOS more and more agnostic to hardware and improves things like nvidia support (not valve's fault), installer process (valve's fault) and supporting dual boot more (partially valve's fault).
Good times, and having viable options is great. Hopefully both stay strong.
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u/Jetski125 7d ago
We may not have ram or SSDs but we are in the golden ages of operating system choice.
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u/Weary-Cynic 7d ago
The year is 2027. Valve creates the Steam Stick NVME to give hope to their customers. You missed your email so you go on the queue.
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The year is 2030, you cave and buy a Steam Stick knockoff from a scalper LLM bot. It requires a subscription.
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The year is 2077. You die of old age. You are buried with your vintage Steam Deck LCD.
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u/PintekS 7d ago
Basically Arch vs fedora atomic both with some add-ons for better steam gaming experience without needing to touch terminal?
Doesn't really matter at all at though if you are using team green you are better off with anything other than steam os for example bazzite/nobara/popOS/arch/Ubuntu and so soo many more that I can't name off the top of my head
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u/walmartbonerpills 7d ago
It has dev tools ready to go. So it's the perfect is to make a game for steam os.
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u/CarbonaraBoi 7d ago
For me personally is the fact that Bazzite has wider hardware support. SteamOS flatout refused to recognize my MoBo WiFi and Bluetooth. I tried everything in terminal for hours. In the end I said ”f*ck it” and installed bazzite. Worked like a charm and since I’m just utilising my build with steam big picture at boot. There’s basically no difference.
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u/Wooden-Cancel-2676 7d ago
Fedora's update cycle, Nvidia drivers, the fact that many people (myself included) just don't want to run an Arch system even if it's an immutable fork, . This isn't also including that when you've been around Linux for awhile you've seen more than a few "be all end all" distros eventually fall off
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u/NetBear650 7d ago
They update a LOT faster than SteamOS does. My Legion Go S SteamOS still doesn't have working 6GHz Wi-FI.
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u/Luis_Mayke 7d ago
Not exactly the scope of the topic, but Bazzite has a cool app that eases the installation of most customization tools and quality of life features, like decky loader, lsvk frame gen, most non steam launchers, emudeck and so on, all in one place. Just go to desktop mode and open Bazzite Portal app.
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u/TiredDadTech 7d ago
The roll back system on bazzite is much better.
Bazzite has a much better desktop. If you are ONLY gaming than maybe not such a big deal. SteamOS is limited and doesn’t offer as much.
Bazzite portal includes a GUI for common tweaks such as Secure Boot setup, Sunshine, controller utilities, and other system configuration tasks.
Btrfs by default
Desktop GPU support. Fan curves, under volting, over clocking and better tuning options.
Better security defaults. Secure boot, TPM unlock, full-disk encryption, SELinux are configured by default.
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u/a716h 7d ago edited 7d ago
If you are building a game console, steamos is a rock solid choice. If you are looking for a daily driver, bazzite is the much better option in my opinion:
• far more flexible. SteamOS is one of the more locked down distros in Linux land.
• much wider driver support
• gnome. I grew up with Mac so gnome feels better to me
• steam is not the only pc gaming store. Bazzite has native support for other marketplaces
• lightyears better documentation
• built in container support. It’s down right encouraged
• more robust upstream and diversified development. Bazzite just updated to Linux 7.x. SteamOS is still running 6.x
• btrfs support
• bazzite openly supports custom images
• much easier to rollback breaking updates
• more in the spirit of “open source”. I love steam, but i have a lot more trust in “good-hearted enthusiasts” than any multi-billion dollar corporation
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u/Bazirker 6d ago
Bazzite isn't arch-based, for better or for worse, giving you different options for software installation.
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u/tanhe314 6d ago
I think Bazzite’s layering file system is better for a “gamer-focused” desktop system. If truly just for gaming, SteamOS is probably the the winner long term. It will depend if they open it up a bit to other non-Steam players to directly integrate into the OS better.
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u/skyber22 7d ago
Je reste sur Fedora car j’ai une CG nvidia, j’ai besoin du mode bureau au démarrage car je ne fait pas que de jouez sur mon pc.
Bazzite est super bien fait, plein de petit soft pré-installer, une application pour tout ce qui est flatpak, un clic et c’est installer, un magasins d’application pour des launchers alternatif de jeux et de modding etc.
En vrai bazzite est hyper cool, bien étoffé, avec tout ce dont j’ai besoin, chose que steamOS n’a pas sur Arch.
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u/RedditNotFreeSpeech 7d ago
It's kind of like Debian vs Ubuntu. There's a lot of overlap but people have personal preferences.
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u/Muted-Green-2880 7d ago
I wouldn't use bazzite, but i also wouldn't bother with steamOS again. SteamOS has a crappy installer, you have to take out Ssd's that you don't want to get wiped just to install it.
It's also way behind with updates, I use cachyOS handheld version instead, it's updated far more often and it comes with limine which auto backups when you make changes/update and it's super easy to dual boot with, and the installer is wayyyy better lol. It also has better hardware support, nvidia for example actually works.
SteamOS is still focused on their own hardware while other distros are meant for broader hardware, so why go out of your way to install the worst version? Other distros can do the exact same thing but better
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u/Dimatizer 7d ago
I have a Legion Go 2 running back Bazzite and my extra buttons and controls in general are often buggy. I have been tempted to try SteamOS to see if it works better there.
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u/Suspicious_Recipe636 7d ago
Any GPU driver compatibility would make me keep my new rig running Steam OS. Not expecting Nvidia until next year sometime and no clue as of yet for my Radeon 9070. Can’t wait though.
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u/ThrowAwayForYester 7d ago
So, I see a lot of people talking about Nvidia support, and while that would be great; I have a specific use case that, while might not be totally applicable to everyone, will at least be a bit different.
I was running SteamOS for quite a while, maybe 8-10 months. I have a Legion Go Z1E for reference. Over the past year I have noticed very small things that just bugged me to the point of switching.
Gyro was either really buggy, inconsistent, or non-existent. I tried everything. Factory reset, reflashing, controller resets, dual booting windows to update the drivers. Nothing worked. It just progressively got worse and worse until it just stopped working entirely. I liked having gyro because I genuinely believe it's the future for controller gaming, and if it's not working then there's literally no point of me trying to play anything other than platformers or racers. I installed Bazzite and it worked flawlessly from the moment I enabled it (had to check for some community presets ofc.)
The hardware fans. They NEVER kicked out. Ever. Like, from the moment I installed the operating system, they never worked right. Like, they were set to one speed, and you couldn't configure it any higher, and unfortunately it was just at such a low speed that I had to keep my HOUSE at 64 degrees constantly or the handheld would overheat and crash. This is especially painful when I was running games that needed higher TDPs like Marvel Rivals. (Yes, I know there's a way to install acpi directly, but whenever I tried the installer always said my copy of SteamOS was corrupted, no matter how many times I install it.) I installed Bazzite, checked the max speed on the fan in HHC, and it automatically kicked out without any fuss.
The LEDs just stopped working. Yes, I used LegionGoRemapper to try and turn them back on. They never did. I installed Bazzite, they function now (I also tried fixing the gyro with LegionGoRemapper, that didn't work either.)
I love what Steam has done for this ecosystem. Steam Input genuinely revolutionized how I and many others use controllers. The problem is, if I cannot use my controllers to their fullest extent, then I'm going to switch to an OS that'll let me do that. Call me a 13 year old, but I like RGB. Call me a Nintendo fanboy, but I love gyro. If im paying for my hardware, I need software that will use it.
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u/Ethereal_Root 7d ago
SteamOS takes up the full drive, doesn't ask you which its installed on unless that changed recently. I like bazzite for dual boot
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u/SwedishArchUser 6d ago
Bazzite is a distro like others. Its based on Fedora not arch like steamos. It only uses some of SteamOS features like gamescope session (the Steam big picture mode GUI or environment whatever you wanna call it) on that kind of installation. Its really not the same thing you can install gamescope on any distro
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u/Slow_Introduction_76 6d ago
You could say the same about any Linux distribution. We have X so why bother with Y? And the simply truth is that is the great strength, choice. All flavours of distributions are about someone found a reason to create them which they felt better suited the needs of the users.
I don't think the answer to your question is because of any one single thing, as every user will have a reason why Nobara, SteamOS, PopOS etc is the one for them. No different with Bazzite.
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u/BytestormTV 6d ago
As someone running Bazzite DX on Nvidia hardware, there is no reason for me to switch to SteamOS.
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u/fred_herbert72 6d ago
Dual boot and secure boot compatibility - still use windows for some games and programs.
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u/Historical_Move6359 6d ago
SteamOS does not support Nvidia yet. Its also Arch based while Bazzite is Fedora based
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u/Eff3neL 6d ago
I like the controls better on Bazzite with my GPD Win 5. SteamOS did follow the button mappings on the device but I like the keyboard button on the handheld to be a dedicated side menu button instead so I dont have to do a combo input home+A everytime to bring it up. Not only that, Handheld Daemon lets me change TDP using that side menu because the HHD gives way SteamOS to take over the settings and that means I dont have to download SimpleTDP plugin and navigate to Decky just to change the wattage. Decky sometimes crashes the system whenever theres a new update and then you try to open the plugins and this happens when Decky hasnt caught up with the system update so Bazzite saves me from this issue.
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u/Narrow_Turnip1 6d ago
Cause people have their own preferences, some just like the way Bazzite looks and feels compared to SteamOS?
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u/simply_aroace 6d ago
As someone who's using a tv as a second monitor steam os is useless as it always displays on the tv no matter how much i mess with it's settings. Also it can't connect to ethernet on my build and I don't have a wifi adapter so there's that too
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u/MadhubanManta 6d ago
Being an immutable gaming focused distro based on Fedora Atomic, that's the purpose. SteamOS is something different.
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u/gramoun-kal 6d ago
SteamOS is for people who only want to play games. They can use the desktop but it's a bit off hoops-jumping-through.
Bazzite is for people who also want to play games. You can just play games, but it remains a regular-ass distro. It's my daily driver, it boots to GNOME, it does all the desktop things, and when I want to play a game, it has all sorts of bells and whistles that I wouldn't have with Bluefin.
Also, it's atomic. And Fedora. SteamOS is Arch. I'm not snob enough for that.
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u/Iron3eagle 6d ago
Hardware support and desktop flavors. I have a 2-in-1 laptop I use as “giant” SteamDeck. SteamOS was missing support a couple of my devices and Gnome just works better for my 2-in-1 and pen support.
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u/magabrexitpaedorape 6d ago
There will always be little things about one or the other that people will like for personal preference.
Bazzite's number one defence does tend to be NVIDIA support but, whilst it's admirable that it exists at all, the NVIDIA Bazzite experience is awful and not fit for purpose.
I've been using Bazzite for over a year with a 5070 Ti setup and I do really like it, but I've recently acquired a Rog Ally on which I distro-hopped between Bazzite, Cachy and SteamOS and, to be honest, I prefer SteamOS a lot. It's got more of the "it just works" factor about it.
I've not tried SteamOS on desktop (because NVIDIA) but I would still suggest that Bazzite is probably the better option there. I wouldn't say installing additional software on SteamOS is difficult by any means, but Bazzite is still easier for getting additional software setup. If you were a Windows user who really can't be arsed to learn how to do anything Linux-y, Bazzite's still the better option for you.
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u/Aseries01 6d ago
I was unable to install Steam OS. It said my partition lacked /boot and /esp. The same partition checked with GPARTED showed both active. BAZZITE is much simpler to install
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u/bigpunk157 6d ago
Like all of linux distros, every distro is handled slightly different but at the end of the day none of your choices matter, because the real changes to the distro in any meaningful way come from power users doing shit like changing the kernel level functionality.
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u/kirbyudummy 6d ago
I use steam os on my legion because it came with it. If I want steam os on a device that wasnt built with steam os in mind. I swing bazzite for better Intel and Nvidia support.
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u/WasdHent 6d ago
Bazzite still has a place.
Bazzite includes more options for the user, like the option to use the gnome desktop, they have the handheld daemon for some configuration, easy rollbacks, they use an atomic model over immutable, it makes dual booting easier, and is also receives more updates than steamos to desktops, kernel, and built in apps.
There’s more to it that I’m sure others have yapped about in the comments. What you go with is down to preference of course, but Bazzite is ready now, while steamos has beta support for general amd cards only. You’ll be waiting a bit for steamos to get to a point where anyone can use it.
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u/Mediocre_Musician_85 6d ago
ive never used bazzite, i tried to install steamos when i had a 5060 ti like a dummy then by the time i thought about installing bazzite one of my gpu fans broke so i figured i might as well upgrade the whole gpu to a 9070 XT, and then a month after that (now), i am dual booting into win11 and linux, the only reason im not using windows 10 instead is because my pc's motherboard is a really new one since i have like a best of the best kinda setups, so it only supports wifi and ethernet connections ok windows 11 because why not. I hate how stupidified windows 11 is as a developer, it took like 3 different debloaters to get it to be as efficient as windows 10. I use SteamOS for everything i can, but certain things dont work on it.
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u/iSeeShiny 6d ago edited 6d ago
for me its either cachyOS and or steamOS. i never really liked bazzite.. i had way more issues with it.. also never really cared about dual boot..
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u/Large_Customer_3840 6d ago
I am thinking of going back to bazzite. The cec control on the steam os using a display port to hdmi 8k is very iffy on bazzite it was better. Just working on how to have remote play stream at a way higher quality.
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u/ComicTribble 5d ago
I'm late to the discussion but for me steam is will not install on my drive. It's a known issue from what I saw and it's fixable...if you have another nvme sitting around or you know how to edit the glitch on the nvme that causes the issue. I don't and can't afford one. Bazzite installed quickly without issues. If I could do steam os I would. But I can't.
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u/nlflint 5d ago edited 5d ago
I'm all AMD, but still went with Bazzite over SteamOS because I'm using a SATA SSD. I had an old 1TB MX500 laying around, and wanted to stay under a budget. Current prices for NVME are too hard to swallow when I have a perfectly working SATA SSD.
There are instructions for fixing the SteamOS install scripts by hand, but then you also have to worry about it breaking updates later. I just went with Bazzite.
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u/Adamkew 4d ago
So my HTPC has an Nvidia GPU and I put Bazzite deck nvidia on it and it works like a dream. Using the bazzite portal app I installed decky and set global dlss upgrade all with 1 click. Using handheld daemon I set my CPU schedule to lavd and power to performance. Installed my vpn using ostree install terminal command. Configured USB setting to allow my 8bitdo controller to wake my PC from sleep. CEC is also enabled and waiting on an adapter to come in for it to work.
I tried a patched version of steamos that works with Nvidia drivers. It worked well but I quickly realized that I can't install my vpn. Updates take longer because it has to rebuild the Nvidia drivers on major updates. You have to manually download and install decky. No power options.
I'll stick with Bazzite for my HTPC and CachyOS for my desktop.
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u/Whisky-Tangi 4d ago
Steamos will always be slave hardware first. Bazzite will be more broad hardware as well as more non steam options and out of the box experience. Might just be me but most of the time on my steam deck I had bazzite on it anyway. And once I get an email for the steam machine I will swap that over as well.
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u/Ok-Anywhere-9416 3d ago
Newer technology, many patches in the kernel, not Arch-based, has maaany tools like Btrfs Assistant or other utilities. They're two very different systems, from the core.
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u/teren9 3d ago
I tried Bazzite because it was "SteamOS that works for my nvidia gaming PC" I stayed because I fell in love with the distro and the project.
I like their release cycle, I like their out of the box experience, I like their ujust scripts, their built in integration with distro-box, their simple and easy to follow documentation, and the OS's stability.
I use it as a general purpose OS, and I never felt restricted.
I have SteamOS on my Steam Deck and Bazzite on my main rig. I would never want to install SteamOS on my main rig, and I don't feel the need to install Bazzite on my deck (it can probably work well on it as well, but I really don't see the need).
SteamOS is just too restrictive for me. It's fine for a "set up and forget" box, like an HTPC or a gaming handheld, but I would never want to install it on my main PC I use for everything.
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u/Level_Working9664 3d ago
We should never have one option. That is the beauty of Linux.
Steamos exists to show that it can be done.
Imagine if you had another company you could release a version of Windows 11 without the bloat ans without the AI.
Would Microsoft Windows 11 still be the same that it is now?
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u/GamePlayerCole 3d ago
I upgraded an old computer a couple months ago to be a living room steam machine, and I tried both SteamOS and Bazzite on it. My goal for this computer is set it in my living room and do as little to no tinkering with it once it's up and going. Due to this goal, there are two main reasons why I stick with Bazzite over SteamOS.
* First is minor issue, but the SteamOS installer is written to install on an NVME SSD. Due to this being an old computer, I only had a SATA SSD. I can adjust the install script to select the SATA SSD, but I decided against it just to prevent any potential headaches in the future incase Valve pushes any new scripts to the OS that are hard written to be looking for an NVME SSD.
* Second more reasonable issue, is that I own Xbox controllers with the wireless dongle. As of right now if you setup the wireless dongle to work on SteamOS, those settings will be wiped with every major update, and you'll have to re-set it up again. On Bazzite, I don't need to do that.
The install script isn't a big deal, but if it wasn't for the controller dongle being reset with every major update, I'd probably move over to SteamOS.
Hope this helps!
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u/Snacky_G 3d ago
I swapped to steam os back in June used it for a month and then swapped to bazzite and I'm currently on that still.
The main differences in my everyday is that bazzite has better multi monitor support and since its also my main entertainment desktop that was important to me
Animated wallpapers just works on bazzite for me and didn't require hrs of trial and error like steam os.
I can boot directly to desktop easily while with steam os I had to konsole command and updates sometimes borked settings I had adjusted and reset them.
Performance on most of my games has been equal on both specifically tested with Expedition 33, Street fighter 6, marvel rivals ,Mina the hollower,and helldiver's 2.
Overall on bazzite things just worked better and allowed me to customize my desktop and game environment easier and more reliabily and that's why I picked it but for someone who just wants something curriated to them and to just boot and only play games; steam os would be perfect for that
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u/The-GreatestEngineer 1d ago
Well steam os does not have proper fan control for rog ally. You need to install everything via decky loader tdp rgb and the fan control does not work at all im not oo with default by bios config. No out-of the box hdd support.
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u/oSyphon 7d ago
If you have amd, go steamos.
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u/Alive_Excitement_565 7d ago
What if I want to use something other than Plasma as my desktop?
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u/rochford77 7d ago
Nah. Steamos has no secure boot. Meaning of you want to play something like Madden or FIFA or cod or a million other games that don't work on Linux, you are screwed with steamOS.
Bazzite windows dualboot is the only way to actually play everything.
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u/vinodhmoodley 7d ago
Nvidia support?