I am happy about the raise of popularity of the new handheld PC consoles, but still Windows on handheld device is a deal breaker for me.
I know Steam Deck is not perfect, but the proton compatibility layer, the OS and the console-like experience is something I would pay extra money for, if other manufacturers adopted it.
Yeah, I 100% agree, I have been an exclusive Linux gamer for a few years now. It helps that I do not really play online. Just the other day, it kind of blew my mind when I thought about how far gaming on Linux has come. I think most gamers could switch over to Linux and be just fine.
A device having Windows is a deal breaker? seems like an odd requirement to have set in stone couldn’t you plug in a USB stick with linux loaded on and install your linux distribution of choice onto these gadgets
You don’t exude an air of having experience, to say the least. Windows is a deal breaker for plenty of power users who have used it for 20+ years.
You just made a random assumption that Linux could literally work on anything. Yeah, it mostly can, but support is a good thing. I don’t want to be recompiling the kernel and troubleshooting driver issues.
It’s not just that Steam OS is Linux, is also that Steam OS has put lots of thought into working well on a handheld.
Desktop mode on the Steam Deck is usable, and being able to use Desktop Mode is great, but Game Mode is what makes the SD great.
Now you can do something similar with Windows (q.v. Big Picture mode), but from what I’ve heard about the Asus Ally, it’s a bit clunkier. Asus and Lenovo just don’t have the access to the OS to do a true Game Mode equivalent.
Considering that XBox is apparently “Windows without Windows” under the hood, I’m sure it could be done, it’s just not as easy.
I think the implication is more of the fact that having a supported OS gaming handheld distribution is preferable to Windows. It’s so much smoother with controls being pre-configured for me and being able to suspend on the fly. I’m sure there’s loads of other things that I don’t even think about … I would imagine the optimizations.
SteamOS is the main reason why I like the SteamDeck. I would be quite happy if there’s another Linux distro or if there’s great Windows support. I think when if that happens, then the consumer adoption of these would skyrocket.
Windows is ok on my desktop PC (even though I’m thinking of going Linux the next time I upgrade it), but it’s not very pleasant on handheld devices.
The Steam OS was created the way you can use it similar to PS or Xbox console. It’s focused on simply accessing and playing your games, with great UI, full controller support and no unnecessary bloat. You still have a desktop mode to use the device as a regular PC, so the option is there.
I dont want to deal with all the windows stuff on my handheld console, I just want to play games.
I am happy about the raise of popularity of the new handheld PC consoles, but still Windows on handheld device is a deal breaker for me.
I know Steam Deck is not perfect, but the proton compatibility layer, the OS and the console-like experience is something I would pay extra money for, if other manufacturers adopted it.
I’m not sure about this one, but my understanding is that steam deck is the only one that can suspend a game mid play and have the ability to resume.
If it were not for that, there would be times where I just don’t start a game because I only have 15 minutes.
Now, I can do a quick ten minute game while waiting for a zoom meeting.
Yeah it’s the only one that can reliably go to sleep in the middle of a game and wake with the game still running properly.
I’m not sure about this one, but my understanding is that steam deck is the only one that can suspend a game mid play and have the ability to resume.
If it were not for that, there would be times where I just don’t start a game because I only have 15 minutes.
Now, I can do a quick ten minute game while waiting for a zoom meeting.
Same. I love how versatile it is and suspending the games actually was a huge contributor to make a dent into my huge backlog.
Another fun thing is that for playing older games that use Proton:
It might not run on Linux natively
It might not run on the current version of Windows
It might run on your specific hardware natively in Windows
But somehow, it still manages to run well in Wine/Proton (sometimes better than on Windows)
Yeah, I 100% agree, I have been an exclusive Linux gamer for a few years now. It helps that I do not really play online. Just the other day, it kind of blew my mind when I thought about how far gaming on Linux has come. I think most gamers could switch over to Linux and be just fine.
A device having Windows is a deal breaker? seems like an odd requirement to have set in stone couldn’t you plug in a USB stick with linux loaded on and install your linux distribution of choice onto these gadgets
You don’t exude an air of having experience, to say the least. Windows is a deal breaker for plenty of power users who have used it for 20+ years.
You just made a random assumption that Linux could literally work on anything. Yeah, it mostly can, but support is a good thing. I don’t want to be recompiling the kernel and troubleshooting driver issues.
It’s not just that Steam OS is Linux, is also that Steam OS has put lots of thought into working well on a handheld.
Desktop mode on the Steam Deck is usable, and being able to use Desktop Mode is great, but Game Mode is what makes the SD great.
Now you can do something similar with Windows (q.v. Big Picture mode), but from what I’ve heard about the Asus Ally, it’s a bit clunkier. Asus and Lenovo just don’t have the access to the OS to do a true Game Mode equivalent.
Considering that XBox is apparently “Windows without Windows” under the hood, I’m sure it could be done, it’s just not as easy.
I think the implication is more of the fact that having a supported OS gaming handheld distribution is preferable to Windows. It’s so much smoother with controls being pre-configured for me and being able to suspend on the fly. I’m sure there’s loads of other things that I don’t even think about … I would imagine the optimizations.
SteamOS is the main reason why I like the SteamDeck. I would be quite happy if there’s another Linux distro or if there’s great Windows support. I think when if that happens, then the consumer adoption of these would skyrocket.
Windows is ok on my desktop PC (even though I’m thinking of going Linux the next time I upgrade it), but it’s not very pleasant on handheld devices.
The Steam OS was created the way you can use it similar to PS or Xbox console. It’s focused on simply accessing and playing your games, with great UI, full controller support and no unnecessary bloat. You still have a desktop mode to use the device as a regular PC, so the option is there.
I dont want to deal with all the windows stuff on my handheld console, I just want to play games.