Linux / Unix

Nvidia’s beta GeForce NOW app is now available for Linux (Ubuntu 24.04+). Here’s what you can expect from the first release.

If Valve’s new hardware suffers a delay, Half-Life 3 could still appear on schedule. A popular dataminer disputes reports that the game will be a Steam Machine launch title. With separate teams not coordinating release dates, the memory shortage wouldn’t affect the shooter.

The Pocket 1 is a pocket-sized gaming handheld built around a 720p display that generates up to 450 nits peak brightness. Also, Miniloong's handheld supports swappable d-pads and faceplates, unlike its contemporaries.

The Mecha Comet is a new, portable handheld characterized by its modularity and openness, and is currently available at a discount. The device can be used with a keyboard or a controller.

An investigation has revealed that Anbernic has downgraded one of its recent gaming handhelds without so much as a tweet about the change. Switched earlier this month, the change should not affect existing RG34XX SP stock held by retailers, though.

Files present in the newest Genshin Impact update, as well as strings on Mihoyo's web page, suggest Hoyoverse titles besides Honkai Impact 3rd may be coming to Steam and, by extension, Steam Deck.

CheckMag Jailbreaking your Kindle with WinterBreak or AdBreak is easier than you might think, and when combined with KOReader and KindleForge, Amazon's e-reader can be made far better than Amazon would want.

TrimUI has previewed its next gaming handheld release. A return to its popular Game Boy lookalike, the TrimUI Brick Pro should serve as a cheaper alternative to the Anbernic RG477V thanks to a larger display and a pair of built-in joysticks.

Despite running on the same OS as Valve’s handheld, the Steam Machine offers unique capabilities. To clarify how titles perform in living rooms, the company will evaluate each game for the system. With boosted specs that support more resolutions, most Steam Deck verified games should qualify.

Initial D was a late '90s anime about a young man embarking on his career as a drift racer in his classic Toyota AE86. Initial Drift Online, an arcade-style MMO drift racing game that hopes to capture some of that magic — tofu deliveries and all — is now free on Steam until January 18, 2026.

Linux-based gaming platforms such as SteamOS continue to gain attention as alternatives to Windows. To explore how they compare in real-world use, YouTuber ETA Prime tested an all-AMD desktop PC running both Windows 11 Pro and SteamOS, examining gaming performance across several titles.

The Tuxedo InfinityBook Max 16 is a new and powerful 16-inch laptop that is still relatively compact and is also available with dedicated Nvidia graphics cards. It supports up to 128GB RAM, while customers can choose between two display options.

Following the nearly half-million dollar crowdfunding success of the Mini-KVM, Openterface is back with the KVM-GO, a tiny KVM that reduces cable clutter by including all the hardware in the display connector.

CheckMag With the growing number of users jumping from Windows to Linux, I decided to fully take the plunge and dive deep into the Open Source ocean. A few months and several headaches later, it has proved to be the best computer-related decision I've made in over a decade (and perhaps in my entire life).

The Void Phone VX1 relies on Linux rather than Android and supposedly protects user data all while offering more flexible options in terms of software customization. However, buyers have to live with entry-level smartphone hardware.

Released in 2022, the Steam Deck LCD quickly attracted a devoted following. Those fans are bemoaning the news that Valve will soon retire its cheapest gaming handheld. The Steam Deck OLED ships with improved specs, but has a price that’s on par with the ROG Xbox Ally and Legion Go S.

Valheim, an open-world survival and crafting game set in a world inspired by Viking mythology, has once again dropped to a record-low price of just $9.99 during the Steam Winter Sale, making it a great time to check out one of the highest-rated games in the open-world survival-craft genre's history.

The Legion Go 2 is one of the most expensive gaming handhelds around produced by a major laptop manufacturer. According to a new leak, that could well change soon with a forthcoming refresh.

Gnome has officially banned the use of AI-generated code in its shell extensions, but the justification is more pragmatic than it is ideological. As of the announcement, any code submitted for consideration in the Gnome Extensions Library that has obvious evidence of AI or sloppy, inconsistent code will be rejected during the code review process.

A leak has shared a first look at TrimUI's next handheld release. A return to vertical handhelds, the new TrimUI Brick is said to surpass the current model with at least two key upgrades.

Abxylute has announced the E1 dual-OS retro game console, designed for the emulation of classic games from systems such as the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, as well as cloud gaming. The $69 handheld comes with a 640 x 480 LCD screen and dual carbon-film analog joysticks running Android and Linux OSs. Update: Specifications updated

The R36H Pro Max is a new retro gaming handheld equipped with a 768p IPS display and dual joysticks. Offered in multiple colours including a translucent variant, the R36H Pro Max also supports Wi-Fi connectivity for under $50.

Jolla is back with a new smartphone with a new version of Sailfish OS. However, it won't be mass produced until next year, and with shipping expected to begin at the end of H1 2026.

Developers appear to be meeting their optimization targets for the delayed Elden Ring Tarnished Edition. Despite other ports taking advantage of Switch 2 specs, previous demos were concerning. At a recent event, a Spanish YouTuber experienced smoother performance without sacrificing visual quality.

Fresh benchmarks reveal that Intel’s Core Ultra 200S CPUs have meaningfully improved since release, gaining performance while using less power. The results highlight how microcode, kernel, and compiler optimizations can breathe new life into existing silicon.

A new report suggests that Game Kiddy is on the verge of returning to the world of horizontal retro gaming handhelds. Allegedly building on the classic GKD 350H, the new handheld is rumoured to contain a 1440p display designed to emulate Game Boy games with up to 10x integer scaling, just like the upcoming Ayaneo Pocket Vert.

As more Windows critics install Bazzite on their gaming PCs, they are enjoying top-end performance. In new GPU benchmarks, Gamers Nexus confirmed that high frame rates are achievable on the Linux OS. Still, Nvidia graphics cards suffered from uneven scores compared to their AMD counterparts.

Even in a crowded marketplace, the Steam Deck LCD remains an appealing budget gaming handheld. Buyers can choose from a constantly growing library of verified games. With ergonomics that have stood the test of time, the Steam Deck price is $80 lower during this Black Friday deal.

Back in 2024, Tuxedo, a popular Linux laptop maker, announced that it was working on a system powered by the Snapdragon X Elite SoC. After months of work, the brand now shares that the project is "less suitable than expected."

The KDE Slimbook VII is a new Linux-based laptop designed to offer compelling value. Starting at €1,029 (US$1,185), the base model features a Ryzen AI 9 365 processor, integrated Radeon 880M graphics, and a high-speed 165 Hz display.

Valve believes its new Steam Machine will finally overcome the shortcomings of its 2015 predecessor. With Proton support and thousands of compatible games, the company says this time the odds are in its favor.

Valve has made a big play for delivering a console gaming experience with the Steam Machine. Unfortunately, it has confirmed that it has no plans to offer any bespoke media-streaming apps like Netflix or popular game streaming services like PS5 and Xbox Series consoles.

TrimUI has updated its Brick gaming handheld again. Now available in two new finishes to rival the upcoming Ayaneo Pocket Vert, the TrimUI Brick 'Hammer' can be picked up for less than $100 with a CNC shell that can emulate up to PlayStation 1, Dreamcast and Nintendo 64 games.

APT is set to gain Rust code in 2026 as Debian modernises its package manager. The coding language's presence in open-source projects keep growing.

Valve's October 2025 Steam survey shows Linux and SteamOS surpassing three percent of users, highlighting growing hardware optimisation across open-source platforms.

For anyone who likes the look of macOS but doesn't want to enter the Apple ecosystem, the Linux distribution Lingmo OS 3.0 may be a possibility. In addition to its proprietary "LingmoUI" GUI, the operating system also offers various other features.

The Miyoo Mini Flip is the latest clamshell retro gaming handheld to hit the market after releases from Anbernic, Powkiddy and Miyoo earlier this year. Sporting a more pocketable form factor, the Miyoo Mini Flip is said to feature a superior hinge than the existing Miyoo Flip, too.

YouTuber Dawid Does Tech Stuff experimented with installing Bazzite, a Linux distro inspired by SteamOS, on the Asus ROG Xbox Ally X to explore whether it could offer a smoother, more console-like experience than Windows 11. The experiment showed promising responsiveness but also exposed several hardware and software limitations.

Miyoo has finally confirmed the global release date for its next gaming handheld. Another clamshell, the Miyoo Mini Flip appears to repurpose the guts of the Miyoo Mini V4 for a different form factor.

ARC Raiders is currently free to play during the all-weekend Server Slam event, which is off to a roaring start, with the free play test seemingly driving the new extraction shooter up to 4th place in Steam's sales charts. Players have also found that the game runs nearly perfectly on Linux and Steam Deck using Steam's compatibility tools.

The InfinityBook Pro 15 Gen10 is a new and powerful notebook with a number of modern ports, including Thunderbolt, and can deliver content to multiple displays simultaneously. It supports up to 128 GB of RAM.

The Nvidia DGX Spark small form-factor desktop has arrived, providing AI developers with 128 GB of unified memory that can load large AI models without quantization. The 20-core Arm CPU system requires only 240 watts of power.

Intel will no longer be blindly contributing to the open-source software ecosystem, with recent comments from the company indicating that it will be using open-source as an "advantage to Intel." Intel was previously known for contributing substantial development efforts to open-source projects and releasing many of its AI acceleration tools and programs under open-source licences.

As previously announced, Ubuntu 25.10 became available earlier today as the final step before the next LTS release, which is scheduled for 2026. In addition to the 6.17 kernel and GNOME 49, this release also comes with the Ptyxis terminal, the Loupe image viewer, improved Bluetooth audio handling, and more.

Blender 5.0 Beta has officially been released in preparation for the release candidate that is scheduled to land later this year. Blender 5.0 is slated to add a number of UI tweaks for readability and tweak the backend codebase to add new feature support and improve performance.

GIMP, the free, open-source alternative to Adobe Photoshop, has officially released its latest update, version 3.0.6, and despite being an iterative update mostly focussed on bug fixes ahead of 3.2, there are still a number of interesting changes and improvements.

The R46H is a new 4-inch horizontal retro gaming handheld with a budget price tag but a rather high-resolution display. Available for under $50, the R46H has a 768p IPS panel and should be powerful enough to emulate up to most Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable games.