Steam has updated its UI: Source: https://steamcommunity.com/games/593110/announcements/detail/3687931965598906185 My opinion? While the hardware advancements are nice, I really do not like the new Steam UI update. I can't keep the chat window from opening even after disabling it, I can't stop the news ads that pop up like I could before the update, and when I start a game, instead of just playing the game, the Steam client insists on starting up and showing itself before finally running the game. I hope these are things they address in the near future. Don't make it harder for me to get rid of distractions, Valve.
About the chat window … I’ve tried playing a game using a headset and the settings just for that game. I didn’t realize Steam had it’s own chat engine. Maybe that’s the issue I had. I thought it was my headset but others with the same headset don’t have the same issue. So, I just turned off the chat in the game and just use discord. Now that I know Steam has it’s own chat, I’ll have to fix the settings on that too.
Indeed, though it seems to be hit and miss at the moment. It feels like they kind of tossed it out there half finished.
Steam updated the UI, and so far I'm liking the fix. The chat box and news doesn't load up automatically. So I'm pretty pleased as those were my biggest issues. The whole application insists on launching when you try to start a game, showing the library and all while it loads, but that's a minor quibble, and I'm pretty satisfied.