Those who happened to install Windows onto their Steam Deck handhelds might have run into some issues, mostly involving driver support, as Valve hadn't yet officially released the Steam Deck drivers at launch. Now that a few weeks have passed and more customers have gotten their hands on the Steam Deck, Valve has finally released the drivers necessary for users to fully turn their Deck into a handheld Windows gaming device. These drivers add support for the GPU, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and SD card reader, with support for speakers and the 3.5mm headphone jack to come at a later date.

• GPU driver
  - download here, run setup.exe to install.
• Wi-Fi driver
  - download here, run install.bat to install.
• Bluetooth driver
  - download here, run installdriver.cmd to install.
• SD Card reader driver
  - download here, run setup.exe to install.
• Audio drivers
  are still being worked on by AMD and other parties. This document will be updated once those drivers are made available.
  • Until those drivers are available, speakers and the 3.5mm audio port will not provide audio
  • USB-C or Bluetooth can provide audio in the meantime

Additionally, dual boot support is not available yet either, despite the Steam Deck having the capability to do so. Valve claims that the option to dual-boot will be packed in with SteamOS 3. For now, if you want to run Windows, you'll have to fully commit to it instead of SteamOS, by getting into the boot menu via holding volume down and power at startup. You'll also need a USB-C hub or USB-C to Ethernet adapter, as you won't have access to the drivers during the initial setup, according to Valve.

Anyone interested in running Windows on their Steam Deck will also have to rely on others for troubleshooting, as Valve won't offer support related to "Windows on Deck", merely providing a reset guide for users to revert back to SteamOS. For now, only Windows 10 is officially supported--but again, support is on the way, with an incoming BIOS update that will allow users to also install Windows 11. For now, there's no ETA on when any of those features will launch.

Thanks to Proton and developers adding official Linux ports of their games, there's a wide variety of games natively available on SteamOS. However, installing Windows does allow access to the remaining titles that don't boot, or are unsupported, including Halo Infinite and Gears of War 5.


Source

 

[zoogie]

Supporting multiple OSes is a great way to ensure the Steam Deck stays a niche product, especially since they haven't even got the official OS nailed down.

 

[Shubshub]

Supporting multiple OSes is a great way to ensure the Steam Deck stays a niche product, especially since they haven't even got the official OS nailed down.

Theyre not

They are merely making sure it has the chance to work properly should someone please

Beyond that Valve recommend SteamOS and only SteamOS

 

[Deleted member 194275]

This is again another empty piece of news from valve.
Oh it have window drivers? And so what, even my $1 sd card reader have it.

The thing was already running window anyway.

 

[Skelletonike]

I'll be wanting to have dual boot on mine when it arrives, I'll be waiting until it's working 100% though.

 

[Xzi]

Supporting multiple OSes is a great way to ensure the Steam Deck stays a niche product, especially since they haven't even got the official OS nailed down.

Bad take. They're literally only releasing drivers to get all the hardware working on Windows, Valve aren't Windows' developer lmao. Steam on Windows works the same way it always has.

The thing was already running window anyway.

Steam Deck ships with SteamOS 3, which is running on top of a KDE Plasma (Linux) desktop environment. Way to have no clue what you're talking about.

 

[Gronbar]

Supporting multiple OSes is a great way to ensure the Steam Deck stays a niche product, especially since they haven't even got the official OS nailed down.

Supporting multiple OSes is a great way to ensure that Deck will be supported long after they will drop support for Steam OS

 

[K3Nv2]

Theyre not

They are merely making sure it has the chance to work properly should someone please

Beyond that Valve recommend SteamOS and only SteamOS

Valve also recommended not opening it and changing out the ssd but people will. Give it time it will be flawless if not by Valve the community its self.

 

[XDel]

Space waster

 

[ZeroFX]

No thanks, runs like crap.

 

[Taleweaver]

Supporting multiple OSes is a great way to ensure the Steam Deck stays a niche product, especially since they haven't even got the official OS nailed down.

I don't like it, but I have to agree here.
As a Linux user, I'd rather try out steamos on my desktop than windows on my steam deck (presuming it would be here, that is). But the image's not ready, dual booting isn't possible and while there are some good points, the deck's bios seem to be locked as well 'for the time being'.

I get that people want to see how well it could run windows, but exactly does the data show?
The fact that it runs worse only means that those voices will call out for better drivers and features rather than go back to steamos.

 

[annab]

Supporting multiple OSes is a great way to ensure that Deck will be supported long after they will drop support for Steam OS

 

[hobbledehoy899]

The Steam Deck was a no-go for me because it didn't have Windows drivers, now that it does it's back on the consideration table.

 

[WG481]

This is actually really nice.
I'm absolutely certain someone will find a method for using something like GRUB to dual-boot both of those, though it might take some work.
Good job, Valve. Very cool

 

[64bitmodels]

This is again another empty piece of news from valve.
Oh it have window drivers? And so what, even my $1 sd card reader have it.

The thing was already running window anyway.

what type of news do you even want from them? a steam deck 2 announcement or some shit? They're doing the most they can (which is more than enough) and whenever good news for the system comes along you come over to say "empty news from valve, pointless"
also, it can run windows, but it runs fucking horribly thanks to the lack of drivers.adding drivers helps that

 

[the_randomizer]

The Steam Deck was a no-go for me because it didn't have Windows drivers, now that it does it's back on the consideration table.

Sounds like you're better off getting a Windows device instead

 

[hobbledehoy899]

Sounds like you're better off getting a Windows device instead

It's obvious that this is more than capable of running Windows.

 

[the_randomizer]

It's obvious that this is more than capable of running Windows.

But why would you get it if you're not using Steam OS?

 

[Kioku]

But why would you get it if you're not using Steam OS?

Pricing

The Steam Deck was a no-go for me because it didn't have Windows drivers, now that it does it's back on the consideration table.

Was it not obvious there would be Windows drivers?

 

[Taleweaver]

But why would you get it if you're not using Steam OS?

Well, at least thats an easy answer : because the price /power ratio is through the roof. You get similar or even better hardware than with gpd or aya neo for at least a couple hundred bucks less.