Software Alternatives & Reviews

SteamOS VS Ubuntu

Compare SteamOS VS Ubuntu 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.

Ubuntu logo Ubuntu

Ubuntu is a Debian Linux-based open source operating system for desktop computers.
  • SteamOS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-18
  • Ubuntu Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-12

SteamOS

Categories
  • Linux
  • Operating Systems
  • Linux Distribution
  • Open Source
Website store.steampowered.com
Pricing URL-
Details $-

Ubuntu

Categories
  • Linux
  • Operating Systems
  • Linux Distribution
  • Open Source
Website ubuntu.com
Pricing URL Official Ubuntu Pricing
Details $

SteamOS videos

SteamOS Revisit - Valve Strikes Back!!!

More videos:

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

Ubuntu videos

Ubuntu 19.10 Review | The Best GNOME Desktop, Yet?

More videos:

  • Review - Review: Ubuntu 19.10 "Eoan Ermine"
  • Review - Ubuntu 19.04, My Review (And Why Most Users Should Avoid It)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to SteamOS and Ubuntu)
Linux
7 7%
93% 93
Operating Systems
6 6%
94% 94
Linux Distribution
5 5%
95% 95
Gaming
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using SteamOS and Ubuntu. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

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

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

Ubuntu Reviews

Top 9 Fastest Linux Distros in 2024
Ubuntu and Mint are both based on Debian and share many similarities. However, some differences may impact performances in certain use cases. For example, Ubuntu tends to be more resource-heavy than Mint, especially the GNOME desktop environment, on the other hand, is known for its lightweight Cinnamon desktop environment, which can be more responsive & faster.
Source: linuxsimply.com
10 Most Popular Linux Distros of the Year 2023
Ubuntu also has some lightweight games like chess and Sudoku. GNOME Files, formerly known as Nautilus, is the default file manager. It is recognized for its strong community support, regular releases, and focus on user experience. There are several Ubuntu flavors available as well per the demand of users such as Ubuntu Studio for users who need the best multimedia-supported...
12 Best Linux Distros You Should Use
Ubuntu uses Snaps for package management, and the latter is the reason the Linux community has started repelling it. They completely dropped out-of-the-box support for Flatpaks, as we mentioned in our Ubuntu 23.04 features list. Although it’s a good starting point for a complete beginner, we would argue there are better Linux distros to try than Ubuntu.
Source: beebom.com
Finding the Best Linux Distro for Your Organization
Based on the open source Ubuntu community, Canonical provides commercial support and services for Ubuntu Enterprise deployments. Ubuntu Enterprise is known for its ease of use, regular updates, and compatibility with cloud environments. Commercial versions include Ubuntu Desktop, Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu for IoT, and Ubuntu Cloud -- all optimized versions for their...
The best Linux distributions (operating systems)
Around since 2004, Ubuntu is a classic Linux distribution. The operating system is aimed at different user groups and simplifies the first steps for beginners. On the one hand, Ubuntu is customizable, but also offers numerous technical tools to simplify installation and configuration. Many programs are pre-installed, and additional packages can be conveniently added. Ubuntu...
Source: www.ionos.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Ubuntu should be more popular than SteamOS. It has been mentiond 229 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: 10 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: 11 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: 11 months ago
View more

Ubuntu mentions (229)

  • `Nano`sphere
    So, yeah, no .deb file, no curl/wget, no apt repository that they maintain. OK, cool 😎 no problem. I'll keep looking on Ubuntu side to see if Ubuntu has something 😁 you know. I could see that GNU Aspel's appendix does seem to have a recipe for how to make it myself if I wanted to go that route, as I pointed out earlier, however, since I have Ubuntu, I kept stomping the pavement and then it happened, I was able to... - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • Microsoft Edge ignores user wishes, slurps tabs from Chrome without permission
    * As always, Ubuntu(https://ubuntu.com/) All solid, functional, and not treating you like cattle. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Any ideas on how to fix
    Yes, visit this website and install: https://ubuntu.com/. Source: 4 months ago
  • Multipass: Ubuntu Virtual Machines Made Easy
    $ multipass shell server Welcome to Ubuntu 22.04.3 LTS (GNU/Linux 5.15.0-87-generic x86_64) * Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com * Management: https://landscape.canonical.com * Support: https://ubuntu.com/advantage System information as of Fri Nov 10 01:32:53 CST 2023 System load: 0.0 Processes: 90 Usage of /: 30.9% of 4.67GB Users logged in: 0 ... - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • How to rescue an encrypted LUKS partition that was partially modified by a Windows tool?
    The Linux installation is/was Ubuntu with an encrypted LUKS partition and before applying a week-old backup I thought that there might be a change of rescuing some data. Source: 6 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

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

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

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

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.

Fedora - Fedora creates an innovative, free, and open source platform for hardware, clouds, and containers that enables software developers and community members to build tailored solutions for their users.

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

Ubuntu GamePack - UALinux / Technology of the future - already today