Chrome OS Beta: Today, it is getting simpler to use a Chromebook to play any of the hundreds of Steam games because Google is introducing beta compatibility for the online gaming store.
What’s New?
Back in March, an alpha copy of Steam for Chrome OS was made available, but it was limited to seven specific Chromebook models. Google has been gathering input from the alpha build and enhancing its usability over the last six months, though.
The two largest adjustments implemented for the beta release are the way games are saved on Chrome OS devices and the way power notifications are displayed in full-screen games.
What’s More?
In this manner, if your battery suddenly dies, your work will still be in progress.
Google added support for the DirectX 12 and Vulkan 1.3 graphics APIs in order to improve game performance. As a result, “you can now performantly play many more games on QHD and UHD screens, and feel the performance benefits of reducing the in-game resolution on all displays,” the development team also made improvements to the game scaling system.
Digging Into More Details
Because of the upgrades, Steam for Chrome OS is not only ready for a beta release but also has less demanding hardware requirements.
Now supported are Chrome devices with AMD Ryzen 5000 C-series or Intel Core i3 processors. The minimum Core i3 or Ryzen 3 CPU requirement has been decreased, and as a result, three times as many devices are now supported.
