It is immutable and has versioned image releases (unlike Arch, which is mutable and rolling release).This adds stability, makes the system less prone to breakage, and easy to rollback (factory reset).
replyAns of course, the biggest visible difference is that this boots directly into Steam big-picture mode, where you operate the UI using a controller (although it does support KB+mouse), which makes it ideal to use connected to a TV, like a regular gaming console.
SteamOS is highly customized and managed by Valve. It doesn't have the Arch repos or pacman. Updates to the OS come from Valve in large releases rather than per package. All apps installed either come through Steam or Flatpak.
replySo it's Arch in the same way Android could be called Linux.
so the available software is a bit limited then
replyI can still customize and configure things, or not really?
does that mean I can't customize the OS, like shortcuts?
The way SteamOS works is a bit weird. By default the OS partition is read only, you can do whatever in your user directory. But they let you unlock it to make whatever changes you want.
replyI’m pretty sure that this OS partition gets completely wiped every update though so your customisations will have to be reapplied.
I read many people saying "it's just a PC", but I am a bit skeptical for now.
replyI will probably wait for reviews to see how it goes
I still feel very interested, though, but I would need to adapt some workflows that I have with paint.net for now
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replyYup it is Arch Linux, that basically boots into Steam client with Big Picture mode. And if you switch to desktop mode you get a standard Linux with KDE Plasma desktop environment.
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