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I really wish more PC handheld devices would come out with SteamOS instead of Windows. It'd make them a lot more appealing to me over the Steam Deck. The Windows experience on handhelds is a bloated and kludgy mess.
It can’t be done cause Steam hasn’t released it yet unfortunately
They haven't released the installable ISO, but there's no reason why hardware vendors and Valve couldn't work together to build a Steam OS image for specific devices.
Presuming valve wants to do this of course.
Don't see why they wouldn't. Every SteamOS device sold is a huge win for them
Depends how they view their business evolving. Ask Apple if you can build a device that runs iOS. They have an App Store and make lots of money from it.
If they want to be in the hardware business, not just building proof of concept/proof of market devices, they very much may not want to share it with other manufacturing of competing devices.
My main concern with companies like Lenovo or Asus building such devices on Windows is support. I have more trust in Valve to do this right.
The steam deck controls are honestly too important for me to consider anything else. The fact that I can play mouse and keyboard games with no issues is huge.
Every single one of the so called "Steam Deck Killers" drops the ball on the controls, it's impressive.
The controls are just so good. I don't think I could do without the inputs especially the touchpads
For me, it's being able to sleep and wake the device with games still running without worrying about a crash or running out of battery because Microsoft broke sleep on W11
Yeah that's my thing, too. Touchpads are important in this regard I would say.
To be honest it goes beyond that. The steam input customization is major. Like the fact that I can take a mouse and keyboard action RPG and assign the left stick to move around just like it had controller support.
@echoplex21 Why the hell would anyone want a Windows PC gaming handheld - Steam Deck through Proton is the future. Sure, innovate on hardware but building something for windows systems is just paying license fees for shitty experiences. #brokenwindows #proton #steamdeck
@null @echoplex21 for me personally I got the ROG Ally because of GamePass which I already had with my Xbox. Being able to play a bunch of PC games native has been great especially if they sync saves. Also the sheer amount of free games I got with Epic Game Store was also nice. Sure the UI isn’t the best (we really need a big picture mode for the Xbox app) but being able to play all these games without additional purchases was a no brainer.
Personally I just got a big SD card for my steam deck and now I can duel boot super easily between windows and SteamOS. Probably the best idea I've ever had.
duel boot
I’m imagining two cowboy boots at sunrise
There’s not enough room in this drive for 2 partitions, partner…
The Steam experience is actually pretty great on the Ally. They have the big picture mode which works really great.
It’s cool to see the handheld PC market taking off, but MS needs to offer a purpose-built version of Windows for these devices. Without something more console-like that compete with DeckOS these devices are doomed to have a disjointed and janky experience.
I actually hope that Microsoft doesn't do that. Because I like that stuff like the SteamDeck improves the Linux-based Ecosystem.
If everyone now builds and buys Windows Handheld devices, it probably goes the same route as mobile phones, where a standard Linux or custom ROMs are second class citizen (if you are even allowed and able to use those) and you have to disable or downgrade security mechanisms if you want to install your own operating system.
I would really like if those hardware vendors would come together and improve the Linux gaming experience for their devices.
Nah, it's greatly improving game compatibility on Linux.
I love my steam deck. I'm okay with not being able to play some games on it yet if it means my gaming experience on pc keeps improving too because of it.
Game companies will also be incentivised to add native Linux support if the handheld pc market gets big enough and it's clear the experience is better on a custom Linux distro than something from ms
I worry that they might all just stick with Windows. ASUS also decided to go straight for Windows too.
You can configure Windows not to run the Explorer.exe shell and instead boot directly to Steam in Big Picture mode.
Theoretically anyone could make and distribute an alternative shell designed for this use case, it doesn't need to come from Microsoft.
I love seeing more competition in the PC handheld market. I personally have an ROG Ally and it’s been working great (I don’t have an SD card though).
I feel like at this point Microsoft needs to create a big picture mode setting for their Xbox app. I have GamePass so it’s been a struggle to navigate using handheld controls. Then I switch to Steam and it’s big picture mode is great to use and smooth. Shame Microsoft doesn’t have something similar on their own OS. Armory Crate isn’t bad but doesn’t hold a candle to Steam either.
I love seeing more competition in the PC handheld market.
Yes! It's so great to see this one play out in the exact opposite way from Steam Machines and VR. In all these cases, Valve made noise about how they wanted to kickstart a category with their own thing and then sorta leave it in third-party OEMs' hands (less so with Machines, I suppose, since that one they just went straight to the OEMs). Fun watching the Deck take off like it did and sorta launch the entire form factor into the mainsteam.
I love seeing more competition in the PC handheld market
Yeah it's pretty great to see, especially since in the beginning there were a lot of people saying handheld gaming PCs are very niche and the development won't last long
Just stick with the Thinkpads, Lenovo. Or make a Linux handheld console
I have to say, after using SteamOS Windows on a handheld is a non-starter. Linux just performs so much better for gaming on the go.
When the SteamDeck was first announced I was sure I was going to order one, but when I started reading about the dimensions I came the conclusion that I'd only use it at home, and if I'm home, I can jsut use my gaming PC. If I want to sit on the couch, I can just use Big Picture to my TV and use a controller. If I am on the go, portability is top priority and a pocketable retro handheld fits that use-case. I couldn't imagine using a SD on a plane, what with how closely packed in the seats people are. I'd be elbowing the passengers next to me.
So when do you guys use the SD? Long train/bus commute?
I use it on my hour long train commute every morning and evening as well as in bed when I don’t want to sit at my desk.
The size is actually a huge plus for me. It fits my enormous hands so much better than the Switch which has been really uncomfortable since I started playing ToTK last week.
I work from home and after the shift to remote work it didn't take long for me to pretty much stop using my gaming pc because at the end of a work day I kinda want to be out of my computer room.
Most of the time I'm using it on the couch or lounging around the house. I have brought it on planes (flown like 14 times so far this year) and it's not that bad but I guess that may vary from person to person.
It's not for everyone but it fits my needs pretty perfectly.
Is there a story behind the name Legion? Seems like a strange choice for gaming hardware.
https://www.lenovo.com/de/de/legion/ - sorry for german link, but I am lazy. Their gaming-laptops are known as legion.
This... will be a gigantic failure.
So many talking UIs are not intuitive on windows on these handhelds, but one can still install steam and use it in big picture mode to get a steam deck like UI.
Also, there are launchers like playnite with many themes.