14 DAY TRIAL // Valve has just updated the SteamOS Beta branch of their operating system and they made a number of modifications that should be very interesting.
There are currently two different development SteamOS branches, stable and Beta. A stable version was just made available a few days ago and now it's time to get an update for the Beta branch as well (also called Alchemist).
The differences between the two versions are not all that important, but the Beta version usually features newer packages, better drivers, and sometimes fixes for various smaller issues and games. From time to time, both releases become identical, but that only lasts until a new Beta is released.
New SteamOS release has numerous Linux-related changes
Most of the latest SteamOS updates in last few months have been about updated packages and less about new features, but Valve's developers figured that it was about time to get a few other changes as well.
According to the changelog, the out-of-the-box support for DualShock 3 and 4 controllers has been improved, the force feedback for DualShock 3 and 4 controllers has been enabled, Xbox One controller support has been imported from upstream, force feedback support to Xbox One controllers has been added, Planetary Annihilation is no longer freezing on startup, an issue where the mouse cursor would sometimes have the wrong color has been fixed, and an issue where the mouse cursor would sometimes not aim properly has been corrected.
Also, a bug where the SteamOS splash screen would sometimes not appear on shutdown has been fixed, xen images for the Debian installer have been removed, the kernel version has been updated, and a number of packages have been updated, including acpi-support, apt, bind9, curl, dbus, e2fsprogs, file, geoclue, gnupg, iceweasel, libdrm, lua5.1, and python-imaging.
Where to download the latest SteamOS release
This Linux distribution is essentially a Debian fork, using Debian “Wheezy” 7.1 as its base, although the developers have also integrated some packages from the 7.6 branch. The Linux kernel used is 3.10.x, although newer versions might get implemented soon.
The system requirements for Steam OS haven't changed and have been pretty much the same since the beginning: an Intel or AMD 64-bit capable processor, 4GB or more memory, a 250GB or larger disk, NVIDIA, Intel, or AMD graphics card, and a USB port or DVD drive for installation.
Check the official announcement for more details about this release. You can download SteamOS 137 Beta right now from Softpedia and take it for a spin.