Skip to main content

Don’t like SteamOS? You can install Windows on your Steam Deck instead

Valve’s recently-announced Steam Deck will be able to run Windows, according to a hands-on demo run by IGN. The portable gaming handheld runs SteamOS by default, but IGN claims that users can completely wipe that operating system and install Windows if they want.

Users will also be able to use the handheld like a PC: it can connect to a mouse and keyboard, run web browsers and videos, and access other digital game storefronts like Origin and the Epic Games Store.

Steam Deck
Steam

In its hands-on with the new system, IGN reports that it “has more in common with a desktop gaming PC” than a Nintendo Switch, its closest competitor. One of the system’s most prominent selling points is that it’s extremely open in terms of usage, giving players the ability to connect their favorite peripherals, visit their favorite stores, and use their favorite operating system.

Recommended Videos

While IGN reports that SteamOS moves smoothly and quickly when getting into games, it appears that Valve wants players to have the final say in the way they access their software. Steam Deck’s compatibility with Windows raises other questions, namely whether the handheld will be compatible with Windows 11 when the operating system launches.

Get your weekly teardown of the tech behind PC gaming
Check your inbox!

Valve’s push toward open hardware stands in stark contrast to the Switch, which contains a strictly controlled operating system. Nintendo has traditionally kept a tight fist on its hardware and software, and its latest console is no exception. Anything outside of installing games and a small selection of apps through the Nintendo eShop requires users to jailbreak their device.

Whether the Steam Deck will prove to be real competition to the Switch remains to be seen, but its siren song of Windows compatibility and total customizability is difficult to ignore.

Emily Morrow
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Emily Morrow is a games journalist and narrative designer who has written for a variety of online publications. If she’s…
My Steam library (probably) looks better than yours
A Steam library filled with custom artwork.

I don't mean to brag, but my Steam library is looking pretty good these days. No, it's not the number of games I own, my Steam level showing how much money I've throw into the digital void, or a string of Counter-Strike 2 skins that I hold like securities. My Steam library looks good because I spent just a little bit of time tweaking the artwork for games that I have installed.

You might already know that Steam allows you to set custom artwork for your games. Hover over any game in your library, right-click, and follow Manage > Set custom artwork to apply just about anything to the grid, hero, and icon images of your Steam library. Even with a few dozen games -- most PC gamers I know have a library in the hundreds -- it could take you hours doing this for every game in your library as you hunt down artwork, organize it on your PC, and set it within Steam.

Read more
Steam will finally let you record your gameplay, even on Steam Deck
Using the game recording feature on a Steam Deck.

Steam, the popular game launcher and storefront run by Valve, is finally testing a feature that would allow players to record gameplay clips right from the Steam app.

It announced the "Game Recording Beta" in a Steamworks Development Events blog and with a dedicated web page Wednesday afternoon. The gist of Steam Game Recording is that players will be able to record footage of themselves playing a game in the background while using Steam. This has multiple uses. Using the Steam Overlay, players will be able to replay clips of gameplay they just captured and find "key moments" from their playtime through event markers on something Valve calls the Steam Timeline.

Read more
A Redditor ‘didn’t know’ about the Steam Deck, so they built their own
The homemade Ryzen Deck sitting on a desk.

It's hard to imagine that anyone interested in portable gaming hasn't heard of the Steam Deck, but one Redditor says they "didn't know" it existed. And because of that, they decided to build their own.

The 3D-printed contraption comes from Raven0606, who shared images of the completed handheld on the r/SBCGaming subreddit, which is dedicated to handheld emulators. The build took nine months to complete, and Raven0606 dubbed it the Ryzen Deck in honor of the Steam Deck (they found out about Valve's handheld halfway through the build process).

Read more