Valve’s Steam Deck handheld gaming PC ships with a Linux-based operating system called SteamOS, which is part of the reason Valve can set starting prices as low as $299. But if the Steam Deck could only play native Linux games, it wouldn’t be much use as a gaming PC. So Valve developed Proton, a tool that builds upon the WINE compatibility layer and adds support for many additional PC games. The latest version adds support for even more games, as well as bug fixes, performance enhancements, and other new features.
In other recent Linux news, the developer of Horizon Linux is working to bring native support for Nintendo Switch games to Linux (it’s still in the very early stages), Debian Linux turns 29 today, and the GNOME desktop environment turned 25 this week. And in other non-Linux news, Windows 11 22H2 is likely coming next month, compact 140W USB-C chargers could be coming soon, and there’s a reason Google won’t let Pixel 6 users roll back to Android 12 after upgrading to Android 13.
Also: if you were ever wondering if what happens when I accidentally disable my browser’s built-in spell checker before composing Tweets, behold today’s news from around the web:
Proton 7.0-4 released, bringing support for playing more Windows games on Linux, along with bug fixes and performance improvements for previously supported games, among other updates. https://t.co/YwxIW50WfP
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) August 16, 2022
Horizon Linux is a project to patch arm64 Linux with support for running Nintendo Switch games natively. It’s still very early in development, but alrady supports one commercial game (Puyo Puyo Tetris). GPU acceleratin is the biggest roadblock so far. https://t.co/11rNaMtj6O pic.twitter.com/u80OIc39DA
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) August 16, 2022
If you install Android 13 on a Pixel 6, 6 Pro, or 6a smartphone you’ll lose the ability to flash an Android 12 or earlier build on the phone since the update triggers anti-rollback protection meant to patch a vulnerability in the old bootloader. https://t.co/WnNCJT5sWf
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) August 16, 2022
Windows 11 22H2 will reportedly be released on September 20th. Updates include Start Menu app folders, accessibility improvements & return of drag-and-drop support for dragging files to Taskbar app icons. File Explorer tabs coming later in 2022. https://t.co/HXoRAcvx2b
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) August 16, 2022
Debian, one of the oldest GNU/Linux distributions that is still actively maintained, turns 29 today. https://t.co/5qMFYvKgBR
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) August 16, 2022
Also celebrating a birthday this week is GNOME. This desktop environment for Linux and other Unix-like oeprating systems was first announced on August 15, 1997 and has gone through MANY changes over the past 25 years. https://t.co/HWvTFfjJqD pic.twitter.com/FWvNRwYeWu
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) August 16, 2022
GaN Systems unveils a reference design for a comapct 140W (up to 28V/5A) AC/DC USB PD 3.1 Type-C charger that the company says is 40% lighter and 50% smaller than a silicon-based charger. https://t.co/WjQPicaAm1
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) August 16, 2022
AMD will introduce new desktop chips based on Zen 4 architecture during a livestream on August 29th. https://t.co/eevAgoRayC
— Liliputing (@liliputingnews) August 16, 2022
Phosh has a new optional feature that uses the light sensor to switch to a high contrast theme whenever it detects you are in direct sunlight. Very cool, especially since it also applies to the lock screen and all GTK apps too. #Librem5
— Kyle Rankin (@kylerankin) August 16, 2022
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