Steam for Linux beta client now runs Windows games through win on steam in a fork of wine called Proton.

To enable this feature:

1. Go to steam settings
2. Enable beta, beta will require steam to restart
3. After Steam restart, visit settings under steamplay to enable for all games.

If a game worked in WINE fine before it will definitely work in SteamPlay in my experience so far.

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Great, thanks for that sag47! I had seen mention of this but not thought to find out how to do it.
I'm sure i'm starting to see more games which I have had colleagues mention to me, only to look them up and find them Windows only, appear for linux (well "steam OS") also -- not sure whether the two are reated or just part of a general push away from Windows by Steam.

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Further to this - I have found that in the past month, about 99% of Windows games seem to work first time through SteamPlay - the progress is astounding! I now have GTA V, Fallout 4, PES 2019 and a whole bunch of other Windows-only games running smoothly as if they were native (e.g. just install and play in Steam as per normal). This is such a clever feature and has meant that there is not a very strong argument for sticking with Windows just for the games...

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I run OpenMW (Elder scrolls Morrowind) and it runs natively on Linux and FreeBSD, no wine needed. I do have wine installed and point OpenMW to the game install under "~/.wine" but it does not require wine to run, just the installed game. You have to own the Morrowind game though.

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I love OpenMW

I never did try WINE but have Left 4 Dead working fine with Proton.
Sadly, can't get Fallout 3 to work on Proton deswpite having MS store installed.
I found Goat Simulator and the amazing Waste Of Space add-on pack fabulous fun.
ARC: Survival Evolved looks great but the gameplay is far too fast paced. On my old system it was almost unplayable (though I didn't really realise why) and on my new system it's a bit too fast-paced for me "273 was etaten by compys" ...
Still looking and thanks to all above.

I am playing Fallout 3 via Steam and works fine. Played it yesterday. New Vegas works nicely too. Fallout 4 has always worked but only with a controller - not checked if mouse control has been fixed yet.

Which Steam? I'm trying to play via Linux Steam with Windows support enabled though, I admit, I am not sure which settings to use.

I am using Linux Steam with the default settings (current Proton version). I do recall when I was on Ubuntu (currently Debian 10), I had to apply a fix that was for Windows 10, but seemed to work for Linux Steam Fallout 3 also (this fix: https://steamcommunity.com/app/22370...7675756259732/)

The issue I had back then was that after the initial menu came up and you selected to launch the game, you would get a blank screen. Not sure if that helps. I have an nVidia gfx card.

Thanks, I'll take another look. I managed to install the "Games for Windows Live" thing and get it to lunch now stuck on the black screen issue. Am using an NVIDIA card.

Skyrim!!! You need Skyrim!!! And Baldur's Gate 2 (as someone mentioned) if you like to use your imagination. OK so what if the graphics aren't anything to write home about, the story is wonderful and immersive. Re platforms, take a look at Lutris https://lutris.net/ because that will also allow you to play a lot more games on Linux. Like others here, I use Steamplay and I scarcely notice any difference particularly as Lutris can handle the mod manager for Skyrim (and lots more). If you want to try your hand at strategy then there's a wonderful game called Seven Kingdoms - 7K - which is so old it's now managed by a community. But it's very very addictive. You can download it via Synaptic. It's actually more stable on Linux than it ever was on Windows! My husband is just shouting out that you can get Baldur's Gate there as well... and other games.

Re leisurely - set them at the easiest setting! With Skyrim you can do that even in the middle of a battle... With Baldur's Gate you can make it turn based to give yourself thinking time. In Skyrim get a bow!!!!!!!! BG's range weapons are a little more flaky. Yes, yes I do go outside sometimes honestly even though the graphics aren't that good... :-D

I would definitely recommend Mount & Blade Warband - it was the first Steam game I owned in Windows that got a Linux native version when the native Steam arrived years ago. I still play it more than any other game today. Quite different to the Bethesda style games, but the combat is very fun and you can do a lot in the game once you get into it.

I had a go at Mount and Blade but I ended up being chased by a whole bunch of people and I have no idea why...

I like Mount and Blade but it is indeed an odd game. Switching back and forth from "travel mode" to "in town mode" is odd.

Thanks, peeps, keep the suggestions coming.
Really cannot get the Windows thing sorted out and even relegated Quake II RTX to non-RTX by buying a copy and installing the Windows stuff with it (only way to get the content on my PC).
Will keep trying though.