Out of the box, the Steam Deck comes with SteamOS 3 Linux and overall apart from early quirks and bugs it does work very well but they're now providing Windows drivers — with a big caveat.
This was announced on Steam today, for those who do want to put up with Windows (not me). There's a few notes they included on it but the biggest and most important is that Valve will not actually be supporting Windows on Deck in any way. It was put very clearly as Valve said "we are providing these resources as is and are unfortunately unable to offer 'Windows on Deck' support".
People are free to do what they want with it, unlike more traditional "consoles" but the point is that for official support, you need to use SteamOS.
The quick notes Valve included:
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
- For now you can only perform a full Windows install. While Steam Deck is fully capable of dual-boot, the SteamOS installer that provides a dual-boot wizard isn't ready yet.
- Also for now, you can only install Windows 10. Windows 11 requires a new BIOS that is currently in the pipe (which provides fTPM support) and will be shipping soon.
- Drivers are provided for GPU, WiFi, and Bluetooth. Audio drivers are still in the works with AMD and other parties - but you'll still be able to use Bluetooth or USB-C audio with Windows on Deck.
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The comments on this article are closed.
Quoting: EikeQuoting: CyrilNot to mention that, last time I installed Windows 10 for a test for someone, it took more than an hour to finally get to the desktop. Linux install, on the same PC, took 10 minutes.
It's amazing how shitty Windows can be.
... and you've got loads of productive software on Linux after this install.
Quoting: CyrilAnd oh my god, the annoying questions about privacy at the beginning... xD
That's an easy one though ;) : Change every single option and you're fine.
Oh yeah but I forgot one thing though! The even more annoying online account!
If you want an offline one, you don't have the option to do it, you have to unplug physically the cable or disconnect the Wi-Fi!
2 Likes, Who?
mr-victory Mar 11, 2022
Quoting: EikeThe TLS stuff is weird as I can access it fine with FireDragon (a Librewolf fork)Quoting: mr-victoryQuoting: EikeDo you have a link how to do this?
Here ya go:
https://www.geeks.lgbt/diy-steamos-3-0/
Do the last two steps (opt in to beta and pass
-gamepadui to steam)
Thanks
Though my Firefox doesn't want to load this as they don't support TLS 1.2. :-/
This is how you should opt in to beta:
echo "steampal_stable_9a24a2bf68596b860cb6710d9ea307a76c29a04d" > ~/.steam/steam/package/beta
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: EikeWell, for the moment. It will bitch at you every so often forever that you chose the wrong option and should consider doing it their way.Quoting: CyrilNot to mention that, last time I installed Windows 10 for a test for someone, it took more than an hour to finally get to the desktop. Linux install, on the same PC, took 10 minutes.
It's amazing how shitty Windows can be.
... and you've got loads of productive software on Linux after this install.
Quoting: CyrilAnd oh my god, the annoying questions about privacy at the beginning... xD
That's an easy one though ;) : Change every single option and you're fine.
4 Likes, Who?
If Microsoft Windows Deck will took off, I imagining Valve, Steam, Steam Deck support will get plenty of support tickets after some random Windows update, even Valve clearly states Widows OS unsupported. Ofc most will no disclose running Windows OS until asked.
5 Likes, Who?
I don't know about you all, but the idea of a piece of (fine?) consumer hardware that comes with full support for Linux and "you're on your own, fix it yourself" on Windows gives such a sweeeeeeeet taste of revenge.
First they ignore you,
Then they laugh at you,
Then they fight you,
Then they must wait for audio drivers to be released to run Windows on the Deck.
What an incredible 31 years journey has been!
First they ignore you,
Then they laugh at you,
Then they fight you,
Then they must wait for audio drivers to be released to run Windows on the Deck.
What an incredible 31 years journey has been!
8 Likes, Who?
Just another general observation. Why people demanding: Valve must take care support of 3rd party services like: EA Origin, Ubisoft (Uplay) Connect, EGS etc. It's Valve Steam Deck not Origin/Uplay/EGS/etc Deck.
Even Windows (Other) OS support not on Valve. Someone will jump on and say "but it is PC"... Most Microsoft Surface "tablets" just another pc/laptop hardware with MS Windows log on them, same goes with previous Apple laptops/workstations. Other OS support, for some reason, taken care by Linux/BSD folks not Microsoft or Apple. "Most sales on Windows" some one will say. Microsoft (Windows OS) making PC/laptops more and more like XBox One always-online DRM boxes and it will (may) bite 3rd party software dev (Steam for e.g.) and other user in the ass.
Even Windows (Other) OS support not on Valve. Someone will jump on and say "but it is PC"... Most Microsoft Surface "tablets" just another pc/laptop hardware with MS Windows log on them, same goes with previous Apple laptops/workstations. Other OS support, for some reason, taken care by Linux/BSD folks not Microsoft or Apple. "Most sales on Windows" some one will say. Microsoft (Windows OS) making PC/laptops more and more like XBox One always-online DRM boxes and it will (may) bite 3rd party software dev (Steam for e.g.) and other user in the ass.
1 Likes, Who?
It's a real shame that Valve didn't do what the vast majority of hardware manufactures did when asking for a linux drivers!
"We don't support that OS you will have to rely on third party support or write your own"
"We don't support that OS you will have to rely on third party support or write your own"
1 Likes, Who?
Quoting: pleasereadthemanualI know Windows has a reputation for slowing down over time—primarily due to its dated filesystem—but I wonder if this is still true. Windows as of late seems to be more well-optimized for older hardware.
It's generally seemed to me that the primary reason for the slowdown of Windows over time is registry cruft (at least since Windows 2000 and its automatic defragmentation).
Be that as it may, Windows 10 deals with low powered CPUs significantly better than Windows 7 does. However, for some reason it deals with limited memory worse than 7 (for example, 7 works significantly better with 2 GB of RAM than Windows 10) and it requires more disk space than 7.
Last edited by CFWhitman on 11 March 2022 at 9:37 pm UTC
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Quoting: CFWhitmanQuoting: pleasereadthemanualI know Windows has a reputation for slowing down over time—primarily due to its dated filesystem—but I wonder if this is still true. Windows as of late seems to be more well-optimized for older hardware.
It's generally seemed to me that the primary reason for the slowdown of Windows over time is registry cruft.
It's long time ago that I had the feeling that Windows would get slower over time. Didn't ever measure, but if it still is, it's at least not hindering me. (Doing work, software development, on Windows 10.)
0 Likes
Mohandevir Mar 11, 2022
Even if I wanted, I wouldn't be able to install Windows. There is so much useless stuff that MS is force feeding us, on that OS... Made by Microsoft, for Microsoft.
"All you have to do is edit the registry here, disable that, edit that thing, return in the registry, download and install drivers". And all the while reboot, reboot, reboot!
I have to put 30-45 mins just to hack and configure through the OS to make it run like I want and I didn't include the initial update process... "I'm to old for that sh&t!"
"When it comes to Linux, 10 mins, fully updated and Steam is fired...
And they say Linux is a rabbit hole...
That's when I realized that Windows wasn't for me anymore.
Last edited by Mohandevir on 11 March 2022 at 9:43 pm UTC
"All you have to do is edit the registry here, disable that, edit that thing, return in the registry, download and install drivers". And all the while reboot, reboot, reboot!
I have to put 30-45 mins just to hack and configure through the OS to make it run like I want and I didn't include the initial update process... "I'm to old for that sh&t!"
"When it comes to Linux, 10 mins, fully updated and Steam is fired...
And they say Linux is a rabbit hole...
That's when I realized that Windows wasn't for me anymore.
Last edited by Mohandevir on 11 March 2022 at 9:43 pm UTC
6 Likes, Who?
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