SteamOS 3.4’s beta release moves the operating system one step closer to the complete and free release of SteamOS itself. Valve has rebased SteamOS on the most recent version of Arch Linux, so users should anticipate significant stability and performance improvements across the board, including enhancements to KDE Plasma, the Deck’s primary desktop interface. This includes new themes, wallpapers, widget upgrades, touchscreen motions, and a slew of other enhancements, as well as improved security.
One of the most intriguing new features is one that CryoByte33 employed not long ago as part of his tutorial on increasing Steam Deck’s performance by up to 25%. CryoByte 33, in particular, was perplexed as to why Valve had not activated TRIM capabilities, which enhances the health of the onboard SSD and the added SD cards. Valve seems to have kept an eye on this adjustment, since the SteamOS 3.4 beta has TRIM completely enabled, however the rest of CryoByte33’s performance improvements have yet to be remarked on.
