As Valve heads into the last quarter of pre-order shipments for its Steam Deck console, it keeps things moving on the software side of things with the release of another Client beta update. The latest update isn't the largest by any means, but it does bring some welcome changes, along with some quality-of-life improvements.

Valve has taken notice that some users in the Steam Deck community have been making custom boot videos for the console. In order to make the process easier, it has made a special folder, one that will remain even if you update your console. The console has also been updated to look for custom boot and suspend animations in a dedicated folder, which it will now play in full screen for maximum effect.  Furthermore, going forward, there will be a toggle to control the resolution when outputting to a display, maximizing performance when in higher resolutions, and a haptic issue when booting has also been fixed.

Now, in order to take advantage of this update, you need to be in the Steam Deck Beta and Preview channels. Both of these channels include features that are still being tested. By default, the console is set to the stable track when it comes to updates. The beta channel offers users the opportunity to test new features, giving them access to the latest Steam Client beta and the latest stable version of SteamOS. The preview channel is a bit more experimental and allows users to test system-level features and access the Steam Client beta and SteamOS beta.

If you want to try the new features mentioned above, you will need to opt into these channels but be warned, you do so at your own risk. You can opt into the channel of your choice by heading into the Settings menu, going to System settings, and then changing the Steam Update Channel. If you have yet to secure a Steam Deck and are interested, you can head to the Steam Store to pre-order one. Currently, Valve is fulfilling Q4 pre-orders. If you order now, you can expect the wait to take about a month. The console starts at $399 for the base model and can go as high as $649 for the top-end unit.

Source: Steam Deck