SteamOS 3.6 is out in stable now, featuring massive performance and stability updates

Folks, it’s finally happening. The long-awaited SteamOS 3.6 build for the Steam Deck is now out and about on the ‘Stable’ download pipeline, and it introduces some hugely important new boons. Battery, performance, and stability improvements are all included, with lots more to account for on the LCD Deck.

Sure, we’ve been getting a minor OS update for the Steam Deck here and there, but virtually none of those hold a candle to the gargantuan bundle of upgrades that is SteamOS 3.6. Now, to be perfectly fair, many of those are backend improvements that aren’t all too flashy. They are very much necessary and very welcome, however, especially if you’re using the LCD Steam Deck, which now gets to enjoy some of the OLED Deck’s battery optimizations for improved uptime.

SteamOS 3.6.19 Stable is available for download and has become a must-have for LCD devices

If you’re interested in the nitty-gritty of your device’s operation, I highly recommend going through Valve’s full changelog over on Steam. If not, however, here are the most important highlights of the SteamOS 3.6.19 build:

• Updated Linux Kernel to V6.5 (improved hardware compatibility, system performance, security, and stability).
• Updated Desktop Mode to KDE Plasma build 5.27.10.
• Mesa 24.1 GPU driver build (performance improvements).
• Improved Steam UI responsiveness.
• Improved performance and stability in situations of higher memory pressure.
• Mura compensation improvements.
• Improved Steam Deck LCD battery life by up to 10% in light load operation.
• Added overclocking controls to the LCD Deck.
• Added Windows Bluetooth driver for the Steam Deck OLED.
• It is now possible to set the SD card as the default boot device.
• Substantially improved Bluetooth pairing setup for certain devices.
• Various external display support improvements.
• Improved SD card reliability and SanDisk detection operations.
• Resolved an OLED 3.5 build memory leak.

This is just scratching the surface of the full patch details, and I’m reasonably sure this is one of the biggest operating systems we’ve yet received for the Steam Deck. Possibly the biggest, actually. Combine this with the variety of unofficial improvements that the community’s been working on in the background, specifically in the areas of game compatibility and third-party launcher support, and you’ve got a winner.

The big question that remains is whether the full release of the SteamOS for third-party devices is at all close to happening. Valve did say a while back that SteamOS would eventually be available as a free download for anyone to peruse at their own disposal. This official availability hasn’t been brought up yet, though options such as BazziteOS do exist for those who just can’t wait for Valve to make up its mind on this front.

Curiously, the patch notes for this specific update specifically introduce support for ROG Ally inputs, as well as a number of other third-party controller devices. Could this be a sign that SteamOS might soon release as an actual alternative to Windows? I wouldn’t hold my breath just yet, but you never know.