Valve is giving Steam its biggest update and overhaul in years
Valve is giving Steam its biggest update and overhaul in years
This is the new library view. The interface isn't that different functionally, but it has a fresh coat of paint.
Valve
Bigger changes have been made to the in-game overlay.
Valve
You can now take notes for each game from the overlay.
Valve
You can pin notes (as well as other overlaid windows) with customizable levels of transparency.
Valve
Made a few small changes to notifications to make them less overwhelming.
Valve
PC gamers could easily joke that three things in life never change: death, taxes, and the classic Steam look. One of those things just changed, though; Valve just released the most significant Steam overhaul in years, including a visual overhaul and several new features.
In addition, the company has brought the Mac and Linux versions of Steam closer to parity with the historically superior Windows version.
Valve says "the most impactful changes" are actually under the hood. The company's developers have worked to achieve greater consistency between how desktop Steam works, the TV-oriented Big Picture mode, and Steam Deck. This codebase overhaul means that new features from the desktop version of Steam can be delivered simultaneously to the Steam Deck with minimal effort.
As for the elements visible to users, the appearance of the entire application has been revamped and modernized. In most cases, things are more or less where they were in the interface: they just look a bit different, with new fonts, colors, sizes, etc.
That said, the in-game overlay got a bigger overhaul, as did the notifications.
Steam users have access to more customization on how and when notifications are displayed, and the notifications panel only shows new notifications, with a "Show All" button to drill down on older ones .
In general, the overlay contains more information about the game you're playing, from achievement progress to playtime and beyond. Valve has made some big changes to the Controller Configurator from the Steam Deck, which is now part of the overlay whenever a game is logged on.
The overlay also houses arguably the most important feature for the user: the ability to take notes inside the Steam overlay while playing a game. Notes are associated with this game, you can write multiple notes per set and they support rich text formatting.
It doesn't stop there. You can now pin individual windows from the Steam overlay so they appear on top of your game even when the overlay is closed, and you can adjust the transparency of these windows to your preference. This not only works for grades, but also for achievements, web browser, guides, and discussions.
All of this applies to Windows, Mac, and Linux versions of Steam. On top of that, Steam now supports hardware acceleration on macOS and Linux. This means that these versions have reached parity with Windows for the first time.
If you've used Steam on Mac or Linux before, you know it felt both slow and sloppy for a long time. It's not t...
This is the new library view. The interface isn't that different functionally, but it has a fresh coat of paint.
Valve
Bigger changes have been made to the in-game overlay.
Valve
You can now take notes for each game from the overlay.
Valve
You can pin notes (as well as other overlaid windows) with customizable levels of transparency.
Valve
Made a few small changes to notifications to make them less overwhelming.
Valve
PC gamers could easily joke that three things in life never change: death, taxes, and the classic Steam look. One of those things just changed, though; Valve just released the most significant Steam overhaul in years, including a visual overhaul and several new features.
In addition, the company has brought the Mac and Linux versions of Steam closer to parity with the historically superior Windows version.
Valve says "the most impactful changes" are actually under the hood. The company's developers have worked to achieve greater consistency between how desktop Steam works, the TV-oriented Big Picture mode, and Steam Deck. This codebase overhaul means that new features from the desktop version of Steam can be delivered simultaneously to the Steam Deck with minimal effort.
As for the elements visible to users, the appearance of the entire application has been revamped and modernized. In most cases, things are more or less where they were in the interface: they just look a bit different, with new fonts, colors, sizes, etc.
That said, the in-game overlay got a bigger overhaul, as did the notifications.
Steam users have access to more customization on how and when notifications are displayed, and the notifications panel only shows new notifications, with a "Show All" button to drill down on older ones .
In general, the overlay contains more information about the game you're playing, from achievement progress to playtime and beyond. Valve has made some big changes to the Controller Configurator from the Steam Deck, which is now part of the overlay whenever a game is logged on.
The overlay also houses arguably the most important feature for the user: the ability to take notes inside the Steam overlay while playing a game. Notes are associated with this game, you can write multiple notes per set and they support rich text formatting.
It doesn't stop there. You can now pin individual windows from the Steam overlay so they appear on top of your game even when the overlay is closed, and you can adjust the transparency of these windows to your preference. This not only works for grades, but also for achievements, web browser, guides, and discussions.
All of this applies to Windows, Mac, and Linux versions of Steam. On top of that, Steam now supports hardware acceleration on macOS and Linux. This means that these versions have reached parity with Windows for the first time.
If you've used Steam on Mac or Linux before, you know it felt both slow and sloppy for a long time. It's not t...
