Software Alternatives & Reviews

SteamOS VS Tails

Compare SteamOS VS Tails and see what are their differences

SteamOS logo SteamOS

We've been hard at work to deliver on our promise of a new kind of living room entertainment environment - one that is accessible, powerful and open. In making SteamOS available to you, we're excited to take the next major step towards that goal.

Tails logo Tails

Tails is a Debian based live CD/USB with the goal of providing complete Internet anonymity for the...
  • SteamOS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-18
  • Tails Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-25

SteamOS videos

SteamOS Revisit - Valve Strikes Back!!!

More videos:

  • Review - What is SteamOS Explained ft Linus' Steam Machine

Tails videos

Tails OS Installation And Review - Access The Deep Web/Dark Net

More videos:

  • Review - Tails Reviews Sonic The Hedgehog Movie | Post Credits Scene Reaction
  • Review - 5 Reasons to Use Tails | Privacy Linux

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to SteamOS and Tails)
Linux
17 17%
83% 83
Operating Systems
22 22%
78% 78
Linux Distribution
21 21%
79% 79
Gaming
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare SteamOS and Tails

SteamOS Reviews

9 Best Linux Gaming Distributions in 2021
SteamOS is not your usual desktop operating system. It is tailored for playing games via Steam on your machine. You may choose to run common Linux applications as well – but I’d suggest you to test it out only if you want to use Steam as your preferred platform for gaming.
Source: itsfoss.com

Tails Reviews

Best Linux distro for privacy and security of 2024
All connections are routed through the anonymity network Tor, which conceals your location. The applications in Tails have also been carefully selected to enhance your privacy – for example, there’s KeePassX - which, while not the best password manager, is still pretty good - and Paperkey, a command line tool used to export OpenPGP secret keys to print on paper. There are...
Top 5 Secure Operating Systems for Privacy and Anonymity
Tails has the option for persistent storage which can improve usability, albeit at the cost of some anonymity. Although it enables saving files across sessions, it creates a trace of your activities, which contradicts Tails' amnesic feature. However, you still preserve a high degree of privacy due to robust encryption. This is made possible due to how the persistent data is...
The 5 Best Privacy-Focused Operating Systems
Tails, short for "The Amnesic Incognito Live System," is a privacy-focused portable Linux distribution, designed with anonymity and security in mind. What makes Tails stand out is its focus on leaving no digital trace. It operates as a live OS, meaning you can run it directly from a USB stick or DVD without leaving any footprint on the host system.
Avoid The Hack: 11 Best Privacy Friendly Operating Systems (Desktops)
TAILS is a live operating system focusing on anonymity in addition to user privacy; TAILS effectively disappears, wiping data when you shut down the system.
Best Secure Linux Distros for Enhanced Privacy & Security
Tails uses the Tor network, a network heralded for its privacy and anonymity benefits, to keep users safe online. All connections run through this network - concealing users’ location and other private information. Tails comes with a secure browser, a secure email client and other secure Internet tools. Tails is the most well-known privacy-focused distro, and a popular...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Tails should be more popular than SteamOS. It has been mentiond 385 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

SteamOS mentions (56)

  • Is it possible for a PC to only run steam and steam games and nothing else?
    SteamOS exists but may limit the games that could be played since it's a Linux based OS. Steam itself also has a web browser so no matter the way you do it have to research how or if you can disable that. There's also ways you could clamp windows down a lot but that's a lot of work. Source: 5 months ago
  • So about SteamOS and ChimeraOS...
    I'm a bit confused about SteamOS. Is this the offical version for desktop devices? If so, why do people use ChimeraOS if there is already an offical version of it? Or is it not complete. Source: 6 months ago
  • An L bois
    Closest you'll get is with SteamOS which can be run on a PC: https://store.steampowered.com/steamos. Source: 11 months ago
  • Install on Steam Deck?
    I know I could install Dungeondraft on my Steam Deck when running Windows, but is it possible to install Dungeondraft on my Steam Deck when in "Desktop Mode" of the SteamOS? I know Dungeondraft specifically says "Ubuntu" as one of the OSes it supports, but SteamOS is based on Debian Jessie. I've tried to research how much different Jessie is from Ubuntu, but I'm not having much luck. Source: 12 months ago
  • Why do reviewers still say that the Steam Deck can't run Windows?
    It’s literally a Debian distro…. https://store.steampowered.com/steamos. Source: 12 months ago
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Tails mentions (385)

  • Ten years from Snowden revelations – what's next for Tor and privacy online?
    I’m not sure about the Tor project, but the closely-related Tails project (which is excellent, BTW) seems to be uncomfortably adjacent to far-left anarchist groups. Their website, https://tails.boum.org, is hosted by one such group, and on it they prominently link to another anarchist “collective” called RiseUp. Why are we okay with this kind of implicit endorsement of violence-adjacent groups? It should be just... - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • very strange
    I noticed that the website url https://tails.boum.org/ was changed to https://tails.net/. Does anyone know why? Source: 7 months ago
  • My Mother Found Out I was Installing Linux...
    If you pop this onto a USB you can leave a beautiful Windows installation on your computer unfettled with: https://tails.boum.org/. Source: 10 months ago
  • How does this work in Proton?! I was told it's impossible...
    If you want to factor out your host machine entirely whilst surfing the web, have a look at https://tails.boum.org/ . Source: 10 months ago
  • Is it possible for a skilled hacker or government to remotely access my computer?
    Tails is a security-focused Linux distro that (by default) only runs as a live-USB and is not meant to be used as a traditional daily-driver. As you've probably understood by now, it's a 'limited' system for the sake of security and privacy. At least it's assuring to have a far better protected distro than what distros like Arch/Debian/Fedora offer by default. Source: 10 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing SteamOS and Tails, you can also consider the following products

Ubuntu - Ubuntu is a Debian Linux-based open source operating system for desktop computers.

Linux Mint - Linux Mint is one of the most popular desktop Linux distributions and used by millions of people.

Pop!_OS - A developer-focused minimalist Linux distro from System 76

Arch Linux - You've reached the website for Arch Linux, a lightweight and flexible Linux® distribution that tries to Keep It Simple. Currently we have official packages optimized for the x86-64 architecture.

Debian - Debian is a free distribution of the GNU/Linux operating system.

Manjaro - Manjaro Linux is a linux distribution which is based on arch linux. It uses the PACMAN package manager.