It might look like a no brainer to put Home windows on the Steam Deck provided that it is just a bit PC, however the machine is admittedly constructed for the SteamOS that it ships with, and changing the OS with Microsoft’s can convey plenty of complications you did not take into consideration beforehand, like UI scaling points and enter issues. Certainly, Home windows was by no means made to be used on a handheld recreation system, and that is why the GPD Win gadgets often embody a bodily keyboard and trackpad.
Moreover, you lose entry to a lot of the “particular sauce” that makes the Steam Deck nice, just like the suspend-and-resume function, the power to toggle the SoC energy restrict and FSR scaling from the overlay, and the easy-to-use recreation library interface. You will additionally find yourself with worse battery life because of the total heavier nature of Home windows.
Nonetheless, there’s software program (like Sport Cross video games) that merely will not run accurately on SteamOS, and that may make putting in Home windows look like a good suggestion. Make further sure that you simply completely have to run that program on the Steam Deck, although, as a result of you possibly can’t dual-boot on the hand held but. That implies that putting in Home windows requires both working it off an SD card—which presents its personal challenges—or nuking the built-in SteamOS.
It seems that the reason for the problems was the sound driver for the Steam Deck’s bespoke audio {hardware}. Microsoft has stated up to now that the first reason behind Home windows’ much-discussed stability points was third-party drivers, and that is nonetheless the case; a defective driver has the aptitude to wreak all types havoc. Valve has issued a brand new driver to handle the difficulty, and you could find the obtain right here.
