Why more PC gaming handhelds should ditch Windows for SteamOS

Of course Linux is better for custom, purpose-built hardware. That's like, its main advantage for the commercial sector.

- Now we just need that GFX software from intel / amd / nvidia that is available on windows, taking advantage of that newly supported hardware
  Stop, you're making me too hard. I might be able to like, ditch Windows if that happens.
- Edit. By software I’m talking about in game features.
  Like FSR and such? That's available on Linux (FSR 1.x is integrated into SteamOS for compositor-level upscaling). AFAIK AMD does not officially support FSR on Linux but it's written in a way that it should work with minor integration work. It's written with cross-platform support in mind, given that it's targeting PlayStation etc. als well.
- Yeah, the sole reason I don't have linux on my old laptop is that lenovo has completely proprietary video drivers for it. I'm talking "manufacturer's installers don't think there's a video card there" proprietary.
Also, single purpose use cases. Servers don't necessarily run on custom hardware, but they do only one type of thing.

Because Microsoft ain't gonna make Windows any better for this form factor until it is way late to the game, as usual.

Windows is basically a product for corporations now. Consumer Windows is an afterthought most of the time.

However, I could be wrong with Xbox's theorized pivot away from hardware.

- What about Linux then? A 1337 OS with some noob features sprinkled in for color? Or maybe a server OS with desktop features stapled on the front?
- And I’m a man with boy-like intellect, just in case anyone was wondering.
I don't know that Microsoft has any business trying to make Windows support these devices better....
Windows is entirely built around two pillars:
Enterprise support for corporations, and team machine management
Entirely open compatibility so they can run almost any hardware you put into it, plug into it, and backwards compatibility for all that for as long as possible.
Portable game machines are not an enterprise product. Nor do you care about broad hardware support or upgradability. Nor do you care about plugging in your parallel port printer from 1985. Nor do you care about running your ancient vb6 code to run your production machines over some random firewire card.
Windows' goal is entirely oppositional to portable gaming devices. It makes almost no sense for them to try to support it, as it'd go against their entire model. For things like these, you want a thin, optimized-over-flexible, purpose built OS that does one thing: play games. Linux is already built to solve this problem way better than Windows.
But, Microsoft will probably be stupid enough to try anyway.
- Nor do you care about plugging in your parallel port printer from 1985
  You haven't seen what I've been using my Steam Deck for. Gaming was not my primary motivation for buying it.
  It's basically replaced my laptop. I carry a docking station, mouse, and full size keyboard with me. Eventually I'm gonna be using it for some robotics and remote control projects and other experiments. It's a full blown PC in a handheld, I mean, why not?
windows optimized for handhelds is already a work in progress, its just not remotely done
- Microsoft has never, since inception, been able to ship an embedded Windows that wasn't a festering pile of dog shit.
- Windows optimized for anything seems to be pretty much impossible.

Year of the linux handheld then?

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Thank you for making your comment licensed under creative common. I'll now steal it, repackage it and sell for 9.99$ without even acknowledging your existence
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  I'm joking, but on a more serious note for those that don't know, not all Creative Commons licenses allow you to monetize, and be sure to actually read which version of license is used if you plan to use a CC work for anything other than personal use.
- But will you train an LLM with it??
- But at least you know you're a bad boy and Santa will know too.
Why did you license your comment?
- Christ your comment is the funniest thing I've read in a while. Thank you for the laugh
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- AI

Reminds me of my friend getting in trouble in high school's the PC lab for changing all the startup screens from saying "Windows 95" to "Winblows 95."
- A misunderstood visionary.

My bet is that there's an Xbox handheld in the work and Microsoft is working on a Windows version just for it.

They already have a Windows version for a handheld. The Xbox runs a modified version of Windows 11. All they’d need to do to bring it in line with PC handhelds is allow the install of third party launchers (they probably wouldn’t do this though).
MS has CBL Mariner, they could release their own linux handheld
- But then they would show the general public that Linux is a thing worth mentioning. I doubt that many people outside IT know about CBL Mariner.

Cause windows sucks and licenses?

Yes, the extremely popular handheld PC gaming market.

It's small, but growing very fast. While actual PC has stagnated, no?
- Hasn't Steam just beat its record of simultaneously online users? And while I'm sure Steam Decks contributed to this, we're taking of numbers an order of magnitude bigger. Hell, PC gaming is doing so well that we're seeing until then console exclusive games come out on Steam.
I think the problem is that it's super popular for those who already own a PC and have a huge Steam Library. I got console friends wanting a Steam Deck but ultimately don't want to buy one because it means rebuying their games.

As much as I love my steam deck and the os, I do wish it was slightly easier to install third party games.

I know it's not hard and I've installed plenty, but like it's so incredibly easy with steam that it's made me lazy to even install games I already have on gog

It's not Linux or SteamOS, but both Epic and CD Projekt don't support their store client apps and launchers on Linux sadly, such we have to use unofficial ones such as Heroic Game Launcher
- But gotta admit, its a damn good launcher! If i had to use windows again, I would install it instead of the other two for sure!
It's actually pretty easy with lutris and bottles. The same process that I do on my arch machine works on the decks desktop mode.
- Oh, I'll check this, because I've just been installing the games through adding a non steam game through the desktop and it's a bit annoying

The problem that could occur is: Right now Microsoft doesn't care about Linux or competitors, every OEM has to buy a Windows key anyways regardless. If SteamOS actually becomes a shippable option, Microsoft's cavalier attitude is going to change quickly, and a lot sooner than it will take them to get an Xbox Handheld out the door.

Why would an OEM need to buy a Windows license if the customer has no interest in using Windows?
- It's in their licensing, and how MS-DOS became the de facto operating system of early PCs. If you want to license Windows, you have to pay for every unit you sell - not just units with Windows pre-installed, but every unit.
- The deal Microsoft does with OEMs gives them a discount only if they pay Microsoft for every PC they sell, whether or not it actually comes with Windows.
I don't understand how that's a problem. Can you go into a little bit more detail about what you think the consequences might be to manufacturers choosing to use Steam OS or some other Linux operating system on their handheld devices?
Embrace, extend, and extinguish Microsoft's gonna do what it does.

Ideally it would be better to see eventually a variety of OSs based on linux, maybe forks of steamOS.

But for the time being, definitely adopting steamOS would be better.

Well there is bazzite or chimera
- or even nobara for steam deck

Are there more than just Steam Deck?

The next Ayaneo handheld is going to use SteamOS.
- To clarify, not an official Valve version, just in case somebody is wondering.
  It's HoloISO or a modified version based on it, which is a Linux distro that bring most of SteamOS to other devices (except ones with Nvidia).
- That's literally the second paragraph in the linked article. Do people not actually read the articles on here?
A bunch of them saw Valve say "We're coming out with a gaming PC that vaguely resembles an adult Nintendo Switch" and went "uh yeah us too!" I know Asus and Lenovo have one.
- I think he meant more consoles with SteamOS.
There are many handheld PC gaming devices, however, none can match Steam Decks' price with its performance.

How many actual PC handhelds are there?
The link in the article that promises "plenty" of handheld examples talks about Steam deck, Asus, and... the switch. And that's it. And obviously the switch is not a PC handheld, so... ?

There’s quite a few. Steam deck and Asus, as you mentioned, but there’s also AyaNeo, GPD, OneXPlayer, Aokzoe, Lenovo, etc. And many of these brands have several different models, if you’re counting individual products.
- MSI just announced their handheld PC too, it has an Intel (Meteor Lake) CPU with Arc graphics.
- Ah thanks.
  How many of those do people actually use though?
- Such as?

This is the best summary I could come up with:

We can only hope this is the start of a trend, as Valve's gaming-focused operating system brings many advantages over gaming portables (and maybe desktops) that run a full Windows installation.

In an increasingly competitive portable PC gaming market, being able to cut out that significant cost over Windows-based alternatives could be a big deal.

Our review of the ROG Ally highlights just how annoying it can be to have to fiddle with Windows settings on a touchscreen running "an awkwardly scaled" version of the OS.

That comes through in many little ways, like a built-in "suspend" mode, tons of battery-optimization features, and menus that are designed for a small screen and joystick navigation.

That's a huge change from the desktop-focused "Steam Machines" era of the mid-'10s, when early versions of SteamOS could only run the relative handful of games that developers bothered to explicitly port to Linux.

That's also a huge change from the Steam Machines era, when Ars' testing showed that many SteamOS games ran significantly worse than their Windows counterparts on the same desktop hardware.

The original article contains 651 words, the summary contains 178 words. Saved 73%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

The article is not at all answering the headline

I wouldn't ditch Windows entirely, but I could see the business case of making sure your game can run on SteamOS.