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

 

[WG481]

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

Because why use a compatibility layer when Windows already exists?
And a Steam Deck is a lot cheaper than a PC as fast as a Deck.

 

[Xzi]

Because why use a compatibility layer when Windows already exists?

Because it actually outperforms Windows with compatible games, by about 18% on average. Even fixes performance issues with games like Elden Ring by including a pre-caching feature.

 

[Kioku]

Because it actually outperforms Windows with compatible games, by about 18% on average. Even fixes performance issues with games like Elden Ring by including a pre-caching feature.

Given how limited the hardware actually is, I'd rather stick with Linux because of this exact reason. There's a lot of games I won't be able to play, but they'd be gimped anyway even if I could. Re-entered the queue for a deck, and I'm excited for it as an emulation device.

 

[nero99]

Given how limited the hardware actually is, I'd rather stick with Linux because of this exact reason. There's a lot of games I won't be able to play, but they'd be gimped anyway even if I could. Re-entered the queue for a deck, and I'm excited for it as an emulation device.

Good luck getting yours before next year, also it’s a pretty neat emulation device. Plays Nintendo pretty good

 

[Kioku]

Good luck getting yours before next year, also it’s a pretty neat emulation device. Plays Nintendo pretty good

I'm in absolutely no hurry. Gives me time to save up for it.

 

[the_randomizer]

Because why use a compatibility layer when Windows already exists?
And a Steam Deck is a lot cheaper than a PC as fast as a Deck.

Okay, I yield, I get it now.

You're the third one who called me out on it, sheesh.

 

[anhminh]

So how is Yuzu and Ryujin run on Steam Deck? Is it good enough to kill Switch yet?

 

[Xzi]

So how is Yuzu and Ryujin run on Steam Deck? Is it good enough to kill Switch yet?

Definitely. Full speed on the vast majority of titles I've seen using Vulkan. Might even smooth out the FPS drops in games like Link's Awakening. BotW seems to run better using CEMU, but that's fine. We might even get a Deck-specific build of Yuzu and/or Ryujinx at some point in the future.

 

[SG854]

So how is Yuzu and Ryujin run on Steam Deck? Is it good enough to kill Switch yet?

Yes

 

[Xzi]

Correction: Link's Awakening plays at a locked 60 FPS, per the Steam Deck subreddit.

 

[fvig2001]

Not that I will get this but how's the actual performance now on Windows?

 

[idontgetit]

*laughs in Russian and breathes in linux*

 

[error404bsod]

Why would someone want the steam deck valve it is uncomfortable as hack I swear so cramped if you buy BEWARE of cramps

 

[the_randomizer]

Why would someone want the steam deck valve it is uncomfortable as hack I swear so cramped if you buy BEWARE of cramps

Subjective opinion is subjective

 

[error404bsod]

Subjective opinion is subjective

I'm a xbox gamer (and nintendo) but that layout is too close together like I wanna move the stick and accidentally press A because of its placement

 

[the_randomizer]

I'm a xbox gamer (and nintendo) but that layout is too close together like I wanna move the stick and accidentally press A because of its placement

Funny, because there is literally almost people complaining about it, you're in the minority.

 

[error404bsod]

Okay so...

 

[Olmectron]

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.


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.

They probably meant that people were already installing Windows on their Decks.

 

[Olmectron]

I'd have already jumped into the bandwagon of this console had it been released in my country. We could never "preorder" it around here.

Scalpers sell it for like 4 times their price and then some more for getting it to my country.

 

[Xzi]

I'd have already jumped into the bandwagon of this console had it been released in my country. We could never "preorder" it around here.

Scalpers sell it for like 4 times their price and then some more for getting it to my country.

Valve have said they're looking to expand orders to other countries, but only after they've caught up with existing reservations a bit. So maybe late 2022 or early 2023?