SteamOS Brewmaster 2.115 update released to Beta channel

May 23, 2017 01:40 GMT  ·  By

After a long wait, Valve pushed earlier a new update of its Debian-based SteamOS gaming operating system to the brewmaster_beta channel with some major improvements.

As expected, the SteamOS 2.115 update is based on the software repositories of the recently released Debian GNU/Linux 8.8 "Jessie" operating system, which means that it's been patched with all the latest security fixes. Support for the Linux 4.11 kernel series is implemented as well in this new version of SteamOS, and you should check out the release notes for details on all the updated components.

"It has been a long time since the last update. We have not been idle. This update is huge. First, we have rebased our kernel changes on top of the latest 4.11 Linux kernel. We have updated all the graphics drivers," said John Vert, Engineer at Valve Corporation. "Our friends at Debian have released Debian 8.8 so we picked up those updates as well. And of course it wouldn't be an update without the usual security patching."

Better game controller support, Wi-Fi and graphics improvements

Besides shipping with Linux kernel 4.11 and up-to-date packages from Debian GNU/Linux 8.8, SteamOS 2.115 switches to the open-source Mesa 3D Graphics Library for AMD Radeon GPUs. In other words, it drops the AMDGPU-PRO proprietary graphics driver from AMD. Additionally, it implements AMD Vulkan support, which works only if you're using the Steam Beta Client.

Other than that, SteamOS 2.115 comes with better game controller support, various Wi-Fi and graphics improvements, and dozens of small, yet important changes that promise to make this the biggest SteamOS update ever. SteamOS Build 115 appears to have been pushed to the brewmaster_beta channel on May 18, 2017, and you can now download the installation images right now if you want to install the OS, but please try to keep in mind that this is a Beta release.