It's time to pay our respects to an old friend. After over a decade, Steam has finally replaced its Big Picture Mode, a feature introduced all the way back in 2012. It was designed to offer a more console-like UI experience, for gamers using a controller and TV rather than mouse and keyboard and monitor. Valve had been looking to replace the aging UI with something more akin to the look and style of the Steam Deck's UI. It was announced in mid 2021 that Big Picture Mode would be overhauled, and after months of testing, the public release is available to everyone. A full list of changes and tweaks can be found in the patch notes from the new client update.

Source

 

[Scarlet]

I’ve been using this for a few weeks with the beta client and it’s just a joy.

 

[Xzi]

Excellent, despite having my PC hooked up to both a monitor and TV, I haven't opened big picture mode (on purpose) for years. One step closer to ditching Windows altogether now that Deck's gaming mode is scalable to larger displays.

 

[subcon959]

Now hurry up and release SteamOS 3!

 

[Olmectron]

Now hurry up and release Steam Deck in my country!

 

[nightweb]

Now hurry up and release SteamOS 3!

Never gonna happen, Valve can't count that high...

 

[Xerokard]

Who else is having trouble with the steam overlay popping up as a tiny little window in the corner for "Non-Steam games"?

 

[djpannda]

I haven’t used big picture EVER… but having the Steam deck UI makes me think more Steam OS will be in more devices

 

[Blauhasenpopo]

Like the Steam Deck UI....aaand as surprise, i only have the Steam UI "installed " on the Deck, 'cause i play only on the Deck

 

[Marc_LFD]

Excellent, despite having my PC hooked up to both a monitor and TV, I haven't opened big picture mode (on purpose) for years. One step closer to ditching Windows altogether now that Deck's gaming mode is scalable to larger displays.

It's starting to feel like Windows is finally losing ground in favor of other OSes and the mess they did with Windows 11.

Microsoft has more or less one last chance with Windows 12 in that if they don't take it back to it being a traditional/desktop OS, then they risk losing loyal customers who have been with them for decades. Windows 11 looks and feels like a tablet UI forced upon desktop users.

Now hurry up and release Steam Deck in my country!

Can't you just import it? Customs too expensive?

 

[duwen]

I'd only recently begun to use Big Picture Mode on my TV (as secondary monitor), and for the most part it was fine... but it could occassionally be a tad glitchy (particularly on launch), and resolution switching often confused it. The new UI certainly looks like a cleaner experience, I just hope it smooths out some of the issues I experienced with BPM

 

[Xzi]

It's starting to feel like Windows is finally losing ground in favor of other OSes and the mess they did with Windows 11.

Microsoft has more or less one last chance with Windows 12 in that if they don't take it back to it being a traditional/desktop OS, then they risk losing loyal customers who have been with them for decades. Windows 11 looks and feels like a tablet UI forced upon desktop users.

Yeah not only does it feel too touchscreen-oriented, but Windows is also becoming too much of an "OS as a service" with each new revision. Last I checked Microsoft doesn't even allow for local accounts in Windows 11, and that's a dealbreaker for me.

 

[MiiJack]

Will this support custom fps as well? This could be great for a laptop now.

 

[such]

Will this support custom fps as well? This could be great for a laptop now.

You need to be on SteamOS to have control over that stuff within Steam AFAIK.

 

[Latiodile]

hey, one of the few good parts of steam os is finally available to general users now, neat

steamos and it's linux shenanigans have caused me no end to grief since i got my steam deck smh

 

[Scarlet]

It's starting to feel like Windows is finally losing ground in favor of other OSes and the mess they did with Windows 11.

Microsoft has more or less one last chance with Windows 12 in that if they don't take it back to it being a traditional/desktop OS, then they risk losing loyal customers who have been with them for decades. Windows 11 looks and feels like a tablet UI forced upon desktop users.

Can't you just import it? Customs too expensive?

Might be a bit out of the loop here, but what are the issues with Windows 11? I've had no issues with it at all myself, and it's probably the best mix they've done in terms of traditional Windows and tablet layout.

 

[Deleted member 194275]

It's starting to feel like Windows is finally losing ground in favor of other OSes and the mess they did with Windows 11.

Microsoft has more or less one last chance with Windows 12 in that if they don't take it back to it being a traditional/desktop OS, then they risk losing loyal customers who have been with them for decades. Windows 11 looks and feels like a tablet UI forced upon desktop users.

Can't you just import it? Customs too expensive?

What makes windows an unanimous OS is their API, that's why they get away with tons of missteps like Windows Vista. I'm a mint fanboy, and still use windows as first OS because whoever developed the tools I use to work did it above a thing that already existed, and that thing was build using windows APIs. Millions of low budget software are just like that and that's unfortunate.

About importing the Steam Deck, I don't know about Mexico but for Brazil it not worth it. Valve won't sell, no matter what, so you need to buy from a scalper that probably is US based. US based sellers use services like FedEx and UPS so it's 100% guaranteed that you will be taxed (here the tax is 60% based on local price of the good), also those services are expansive on their own (and the shipping is subject to taxation too).

In the end the cost will something between $850 and $1000. On that price range the Chinese handhelds are just a more rational choice. There are more powerful devices then the deck on the horizon and way cheaper (and weaker) options already available. (Chinese sellers usually use public mail service both there and here, so it's cheap shipping or even free shipping. Not all parcels are custom inspected on our public mail company here, so most times you pay no tax).

 

[DKAngel]

still cant figure out the whole non steam game and getting the controller to work thing

 

[PressToStart]

Got a black screen on my and was necessary to activate "Enable GPU accelerated rendering in web views" in Steam -> Settings -> Interface. This is really cool for Windows PCs hooked in a TV to play with a controller if you activate Steam to launch with Windows in Big Picture mode because you can shutdown your PC fairly easy.

 

[scd]

It's starting to feel like Windows is finally losing ground in favor of other OSes and the mess they did with Windows 11.

Microsoft has more or less one last chance with Windows 12 in that if they don't take it back to it being a traditional/desktop OS, then they risk losing loyal customers who have been with them for decades. Windows 11 looks and feels like a tablet UI forced upon desktop users.

I don't think windows lost ground with windows 11, but instead people just hated windows for the longest time, but there was nowhere else to go really. But with Linux getting better software wise with things like proton and even Apple's MacBooks becoming these ultra powerful, battery sipping and somehow affordable laptops if you look at other ultrabooks, it's no wonder people are jumping ship to other oses