Steam UI Update

[Amaris]

Steam has updated its UI:

Hello! We’re excited to announce that we've just shipped a new version of the Steam Client to everyone. This update includes all the new Steam Desktop features that have been tested and fine-tuned in the beta branch. Before we get into the details, we want to thank our beta testers really quick – we couldn’t have shipped without all of your invaluable feedback and bug reports!

New framework, new foundation
The most impactful changes in this update aren’t immediately visible; much of the work went into changing how we share code across the Steam Desktop Client, Big Picture mode, and Steam Deck. These changes also means quicker implementation and iteration of new features. For example, many of the features in this update (like Notes in the overlay) are simultaneously shipping on Steam Deck because of the shared codebase.

Steam gets a fresh coat of paint
This update also brings targeted visual and usability improvements across Steam - we've gone through and updated dialogs, menus, fonts, and colors. The main Steam header and footer, Settings, and the Screenshot Manager are just a few examples of spots with refreshed UI.

Source: https://steamcommunity.com/games/593110/announcements/detail/3687931965598906185

My opinion? While the hardware advancements are nice, I really do not like the new Steam UI update. I can't keep the chat window from opening even after disabling it, I can't stop the news ads that pop up like I could before the update, and when I start a game, instead of just playing the game, the Steam client insists on starting up and showing itself before finally running the game.

I hope these are things they address in the near future. Don't make it harder for me to get rid of distractions, Valve.

 

[Rincewiend]

Yeah, not a fan of it either...

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

This Steam update reminds me of a very annoying, needy, attention-seeking child.

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

As soon as I open something on Steam - quickly close those extra windows.

 

[Owain Taggart]

No problems with the UI on my end. The chat used to open up automatically on the older client, and doesn't now ironically enough. I have an older PC and my main concern was one of resources, but everything seems to be Ok here, though I haven't tried playing anything yet. I've been putting more time on playing using GOG Galaxy as I've felt it was less resource hungry than Steam most of the time.

There have been times where a game would just crash and take down Steam with it, or vice versa, Steam would crash taking the game down with it, such being the nature of client-ended DRM needing the client to run, something that wouldn't happen with GOG.

 

[John Clark]

For me, it's a bit slower to open (but I've only tried it on my laptop so far and that's more long in the tooth than the desktop).

I didn't really get the chat box opening before or after, though the "what's new" box tended to open all the time

 

[Amaris]

Yeah, not a fan of it either...

This Steam update reminds me of a very annoying, needy, attention-seeking child.

As soon as I open something on Steam - quickly close those extra windows.

Yeah, the opening windows, the insistence on the big splash screen when starting up and shutting down, it's very noisy. One of my favorite aspects of Steam is that it doesn't, or didn't, behave like so many other launchers. It just quietly served up the game and stayed in the background until you needed it. That's all I want.

I don't play with friends online, I do mostly solo games, and I honestly don't want to know what all my other friends that I don't have on there are playing, and I certainly don't want to be connected by chat every time I start Steam itself. It's not an oversight, they removed the option to remove the news upon start, and they removed the option to not allow chat to load upon start. Those were conscious decisions, and I think they're a big step backward.

No problems with the UI on my end. The chat used to open up automatically on the older client, and doesn't now ironically enough. I have an older PC and my main concern was one of resources, but everything seems to be Ok here, though I haven't tried playing anything yet. I've been putting more time on playing using GOG Galaxy as I've felt it was less resource hungry than Steam most of the time.

There have been times where a game would just crash and take down Steam with it, or vice versa, Steam would crash taking the game down with it, such being the nature of client-ended DRM needing the client to run, something that wouldn't happen with GOG.

True, and one of the things I love about GOG is that I don't need it once I download the game. I run Linux, so I don't actually have a proper GOG launcher (I use Lutris). The only problem is that while I have 11 games on GOG, I have about 250 games on Steam that I've collected over the past 10 years.

Valve knows this, I think, so what are we going to do? Leave over some UI changes? Likely not. Still, it's frustrating, and I hope they update the client to allow us to remove these annoyances.

For me, it's a bit slower to open (but I've only tried it on my laptop so far and that's more long in the tooth than the desktop).

I didn't really get the chat box opening before or after, though the "what's new" box tended to open all the time

Lucky! I mean, not the slow to open part, and yeah, I'm experiencing that, too, but the fact you don't get the barrage of chat windows and news updates.

But yes, it's slower (I have an NVMe M.2 SSD, and 64GB of RAM), eats more RAM (it currently consumes about 1.5GB of RAM on idle compared to 200MB before the update), insists on letting me know on a giant splash screen (that covers everything) that it's starting up and shutting down, and it often ignores when I try to install or uninstall a game. It feels very half baked.

 

[Owain Taggart]

though the "what's new" box tended to open all the time

Yeah, and that still opens for me.

Valve knows this, I think, so what are we going to do? Leave over some UI changes? Likely not. Still, it's frustrating, and I hope they update the client to allow us to remove these annoyances.

I think a good compromise would be to have UI skins. If people like the classic look, then give it to them and allow them to switch to it if they want to, or even a slim version of the client for those with older specs. But really, I care more about performance and being able to play the games. I've had situations in the past where the client was using too much memory and not allowing my games to play properly, and that's really not a fun situation to be in.

 

[John Clark]

Lucky! I mean, not the slow to open part, and yeah, I'm experiencing that, too, but the fact you don't get the barrage of chat windows and news updates.

But yes, it's slower (I have an NVMe M.2 SSD, and 64GB of RAM), eats more RAM (it currently consumes about 1.5GB of RAM on idle compared to 200MB before the update), insists on letting me know on a giant splash screen (that covers everything) that it's starting up and shutting down, and it often ignores when I try to install or uninstall a game. It feels very half baked.

Well, my laptop is nowhere near any of that (say 8gb but at least it does have an SSD). It doesn't have all my games installed as there's no point for some of them. Thankfully, it also only seems to be using around 400 meg at the moment

I'll have to see how it goes on the DT (a little more memory in there, alot more VRAM and somewhat more capable processor though Steam itself isn't on an SSD there).

I don't have that many games (probably less than sixty or so) so I wonder if that'll affect the speed and memory usage of Steam.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Well, my laptop is nowhere near any of that (say 8gb but at least it does have an SSD).

Same here, although I have an HD that I've got partitioned and all my games are on one of them. I've long wanted an upgrade, but the chip shortages and the high prices have made it much harder to obtain. It's the kind of upgrade where I'll have to upgrade everything as I'm maxed at 8 with my current board.