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Looks like Valve may be preparing a 64bit version of the Steam client

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Valve may be preparing a 64bit version of the Steam client with an update in the Steam Beta Client that was released yesterday.

Their wording in the patch notes certainly suggests that's what they're doing:

Added support for shipping different binaries to 64bit vs 32bit operating systems in Steam self-updater. This support is being added in preparation for future updates.

Considering the client is already 64bit on Mac, it would make sense to bring that to Linux and Windows soon too. With most people now on 64bit, it was only a matter of time before they did this. Going by the Steam Hardware Survey, few people remain on 32bit. Giving their updater the ability to know the difference between systems, would be the first step towards rolling out 64bit to those systems that support it and eventually warn people on 32bit systems when that eventually becomes deprecated for the Steam client.

We already know they're planning an overhaul of certain parts of the client, with various leaks and Valve eventually talking about it. It's entirely possible that this is in preparation for that to happen.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Steam, Valve
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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Sudo_halt Aug 9, 2018
F***ing FINALLY


Last edited by Sudo_halt on 9 August 2018 at 2:12 pm UTC
14 Aug 9, 2018
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It sure would make installing Steam on some distributions less painful.
Kristian Aug 9, 2018
When I read the headline my immediate reaction was: "They don't have that already?".
TheSHEEEP Aug 9, 2018
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The cool ones always come late to the party.
Eike Aug 9, 2018
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Quoting: 14It sure would make installing Steam on some distributions less painful.

Many Games will still come in 32 bits...
Ananace Aug 9, 2018
Oh nice, this means I can probably stop running Steam as a Flatpak soon.

I've been trying to avoid having 32-bit libraries installed as far as possible - which as it turns out is really easy as long as you don't want to play games on Steam.
14 Aug 9, 2018
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Quoting: Eike
Quoting: 14It sure would make installing Steam on some distributions less painful.

Many Games will still come in 32 bits...
And?
CSharp Aug 9, 2018
2006, Here we come!

It's still nice to see they're making the move. I think the only 32 bit systems left out there using steam would be Raspberries used for in home streaming. So hopefully they don't break support completely.

But I don't think any CPU able to run the most basic of games nowadays has a 32 bit processor. You'd have to go all the way back to Pentium 4, Athlon or Atom to even find one. Doesn't seem likely anyone is still gaming on those.
Eike Aug 9, 2018
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Quoting: 14
Quoting: EikeMany Games will still come in 32 bits...
And?

... these will still need 32 bit libraries?
tonR Aug 9, 2018
Pity to all 3 GamingonLinux users... They certainly will having hard times playing Steam games in the future...
/s
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