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While Valve continues to update its Linux-based operating system, SteamOS, for the Steam Deck and Steam Machine (now up to version 3.9.1 Preview), the company has just published its first public version of SteamOS for the Steam Frame. While both the Deck and Machine run on x86-64 chips, the Frame uses an ARM-based Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 processor, so it has a special ARM64-optimized SteamOS branch.

SteamOS 0.3.0 for Steam Frame has been released. It’s interesting to see that Valve still doesn’t count it as a 1.0 release, despite the new VR headset finally launching earlier this week. Sign-ups went live on Monday, and on Thursday (yesterday), Valve started sending out its pre-order invites; we’ve already seen scalpers trying to resell their reservations online for extortionate prices.

SteamOS 0.3.0 for Steam Frame patch notes

SteamOS 0.3.0 (for Steam Frame) has just been released for all users with the following changes:

General

Substantially faster charging while unit is off / sleeping

Improved controller tracking while haptics are active

Improved system stability and reliability under high load

Fixed “garbled audio” microphone bug

UX

Fixed per-app Motion Smoothing -> “Force Always-On” setting (was getting ignored)

Improved motion smoothing behavior in Alyx

Added VR Settings control for “Game dimming when dashboard is visible”

VR Settings -> Play Area no longer auto-shows bounds

Developer

Change Playable performance criteria to allow any resolution (was: 1440p)

Vulkan layer fixes for increased game compatibility

Multiple improvements to overall system / OS performance

Multiple improvements to graphics performance (Mesa)

Source: Steam Community

As the first public version of the operating system, this update is available for all users. We doubt anyone already has a Steam Frame shipped to them, though some developers have had their hands on their device for some time now. Earlier today, sideloading software for the Frame was released, developed by someone with “4 months” of experience with the VR headset.

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We imagine Valve will continue to work through its early Steam Frame-specific SteamOS updates while customers wait for their chance to purchase the device. Much like its other two hardware launches this year (the Steam Controller and Steam Machine), the headset is available on the Steam store through a reservation program with entry requirements and randomized invites.