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Steam Deck future owners OS Poll (steam os or Windows install)

What OS will you use


  • Total voters
    201

Jebron

Member
All that massive windows overhead will kill the performance and battery. Steam OS.
100% agree, installing Windows on this machine seems like blasphemy. I'd love to get to a point where the performance delta between Windows and Proton (when almost all games are supported) is trivial.
 

Fredrik

Member
So you can have Windows AND Steam OS installed at the same time? How does that work?
Should be possible yeah if it’s Linux, you make two partitions and install each OS on their own partition and then swap from a menu at the start. Can’t say I could actually manage it right now but hopefully there are guides available when it comes to my place.
 
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WizeVibez

Banned
Direct Storage makes windows 11 a no-brainer.

Edit: Just read that Direct Storage will work on Win10!
 
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Man, that video does a terrible job at selling the UI. It looks laggy and unresponsive as hell.
yeah, that video isn't that great but it runs very well on my newer-ish laptop. i'm curious to see how it would run on the Deck, if it's slow/laggy i'll choose something else.
 

KAL2006

Banned
I think I will stick to Steam OS as long I can somehow install Microsoft Office and Retroarch. I just have a feeling if I don't use Steam OS id run into battery issues. I assume Steam OS will be designed around running low power.
 
Steam os. No windows for me, like never again. But it'll be fun to compare how windows will slow everything, like it always does.
 
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Beelzebubs

Member
I think I will stick to Steam OS as long I can somehow install Microsoft Office and Retroarch. I just have a feeling if I don't use Steam OS id run into battery issues. I assume Steam OS will be designed around running low power.
Retroarch is on (or soon to arrive) on Steam. It's been on the Steam Store for a while.
 

Shakka43

Member
I will give SteamOS a good enough chance to see how it goes.

If I do end up installing Windows at some point I will use LaunchBox/BigBox as my front end games.
 
I'm also wondering if Steam OS will have less overhead and we would get better gaming performance.
Would think so seeing as they been working with AMD to nail down the sleep & wake features even during a game a kin to Nintendo Switch sleep and wake feature it sounds like. If you're using Windows I doubt it'll utilize that same feature without shitting the bed.
 

BeardGawd

Banned
Quite honestly you are leaving a shit ton of functionality on the table if you don't install Windows. This thing is basically a laptop just needs a keyboard and mouse.
 

dorkimoe

Member
SteamOs until Windows is working good then I would switch over to windows but not it it’s a pain to manage
 

Bojanglez

The Amiga Brotherhood
I intend on leaving SteamOS on it. It's fine - I used to be a heavy Linux user and still must use it infrequently for work, so I am comfortable with it. I am also expecting Microsoft to port their Xbox app to SteamOS (for that sweet Game Pass action). Besides, the last thing I need is another Windows device.
This would be a test of how pro consumer and game preservation they really are. From what I understand the Xbox/Gamepass app has some pretty deep hooks directly into the Windows store and its DRM, sometimes causing not insignificant performance hits on CPU tasks.

If MS released a native linux Gamepass client and got games running either natively or worked to ensure full compatibility under Proton, it would forever change my opinion of them. Who knows, maybe they will let some Id Software engineers loose to help officially support DXVK/VKD3D.
 
SteamOS 3.0

The list of Proton supported titles is growing at an exponential rate, that I wouldn't be surprised if they all catch-up to Windows within the next few years, and Valve finally forcing developers to release a native Linux version from there on onwards.

For Epic Games Store, GOG and other launcher, I think the "add a non-steam game" way works fine, albeit you having to use the terminal a few times (incredibly easy with tutorials online).
 

dolabla

Member
I'll be keeping Steam OS. Steam OS is built specifically with this device in mind so things should be smoother.
 

Bitmap Frogs

Mr. Community
I think it's amusing how they avoid like the plague the "L" word, which I don't blame them for because well, they know the user data.

I hope most users stick with default... KDE is a beautiful fully customizable desktop environment and wine/proton are miles ahead from what they were a few years ago.
 

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
Will be looking at this with interest once people start testing it as a Gamepass machine. I'll grab one if that becomes a thing that works well.
 
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DGrayson

Mod Team and Bat Team
Staff Member
How many threads are you people gonna make about this damn thing? It's just a mini PC thats meant to play video games.



Another One Mtv Emas GIF by 2020 MTV EMA
 

BabyYoda

Banned
If I ever do get one (may wait for a 2nd iteration though), it will be a dual boot, something tells me Steam games will run better on the Steam OS once they optimise it fully with Proton (but DF and others will confirm), if that ends up being correct, then it makes sense to keep Steam OS for that and then Windows for other stores and programs. Still, I like the idea of moving away from Windows for good.

Is it confirmed that you can't attach an external SSD or HDD, would be a shame if you can't? Also, can you use the Deck as a controller when docked? I know that sounds a little silly, but there could be an extension cable that leads from the Deck to the dock/hub, it would be a shame to lose the use of another controller when docked, especially one that has cool functionality like the gyro, haptic trackpads and the buttons on the reverse. I appreciate they couldn't have removable controllers like the Switch, as that's probably patented, but if they don't include this ability, hopefully modders will find a way!
 
I'm sure I'm probably the 50th person to ask, but where is the dual boot option?

Steam OS for Steam content, Windows for everything else, probably.
 
Would think so seeing as they been working with AMD to nail down the sleep & wake features even during a game a kin to Nintendo Switch sleep and wake feature it sounds like. If you're using Windows I doubt it'll utilize that same feature without shitting the bed.
Yeah, the instant sleep/wake/suspend function during gameplay has got to be one of the biggest reasons to run Steam OS instead of Windows. Huge deal for a handheld.
 
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lefty1117

Gold Member
WIll start with SteamOS and see how it is. Am curious about it. I wonder though if you install Windows on it, what will the driver support be like? You've got analog sticks, touchpads etc ... I'm assuming Valve is going to produce some Windows drivers for the device.
 

evanft

Member
I'll start with Linux, but may through on Windows later if I feel like it. My hope is someone makes a script that stripes down W10 to remove as much as possible that isn't needed for gaming.
 
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