14 DAY TRIAL // Valve has just released a new stable version for the Steam client and has pushed a number of Linux-centric fixes and improvements that really make this a very important update.
This is the first Steam update since the Linux client of the most successful digital distribution platform has passed the one-year mark. Valve has made a real effort to make the Steam for Linux version look and work like the ones on the Windows and Mac OS platforms, and it managed to pull it off, for the most part.
What's interesting about the recent Linux updates for the Steam client is that most of them are now applying both to the application on the desktop and for the one on SteamOS. This is just the case with this latest iteration.
According to the changelog, the auto detect for the audio outputs has been improved tremendously, especially if you are booting SteamOS for the first time. An option to change the selected audio device can be found in the Settings, the Audio section.
The SteamOS startup UI has also received a number of improvements. Underscan, overscan, and brightness settings are now available for the users. It's now also possible to change the audio device straight from the SteamOS interface, which is very helpful for people who are using the voice chat.
Other changes include a fix for the volume meter that didn't reset to 100% when changing audio device outputs, better error messages when Steam was unable to adjust the system Audio settings form the Big Picture mode, and a number of updated Steam Runtime libraries.
A number of changes for this release apply for all the available platforms. There is nothing major to report, maybe with the exception of a few improvements for the login dialog and the addition of IP tracking for favorite servers.
If you have Steam installed, you don't have to do anything in order to get the new update. If not, just download the Steam installer from Softpedia and get the latest version of the client in a couple of minutes.
On the other hand, if you are subscribed to the Beta channel, you will have to unsubscribe from it in order to get the stable release.
We also mentioned SteamOS, but the changes for the Steam client don't apply to the operating system developed by Valve, only for the embedded client.