New Steam beta lets you download while playing

A new beta version of Steam brings additional features for anyone wanting to test the latest additions from Valve.

One of the main features that’s being added to this test is the ability to download while a game is running on a per game basis. It’s effectively streamlining the process and making downloads easier to manage.

As Steam users will know, what happens currently is that downloads are paused while you get on with the gaming, unless you force an update or download to run in the Steam client. With more gamers having access to super high speed broadband, this will be a welcome addition.

There are more improvements being tested as you can see from the list below.

General 

• Add ability to limit what time of day Steam is allowed to automatically update apps
• Add option to let other games download while a game is running (this is a per-game setting)
• Add download regions for Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Ottawa in Canada
• Add ‘Copy all text to clipboard’ context menu option in the System Information dialog.

Steam client UI 

• Improve downloading status text at the bottom of the main window

Big Picture 

• Added ability to opt into game betas and edit launch options
• Added Inbox item under Linux if your machine requires a reboot due to OS level updates
• Fix infinite loop of Cloud sync error dialogs on game launch
• Fixed mouse cursor being visible during startup animation even if it hadn’t moved

Linux 

• Fix paste pasting stale text.
• Fix Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V in client-hosted web page text controls.
• Fix incorrect foregrounding of a blank window in some -silent startup cases.