BAD NEWS! Steam Deck Update!

SteamOS is on Valve time.
00:00 - Intro
12:47 - Somewhat Disappointing SteamOS News
06:57 - Microsoft Fights Back

Shop my Store!
____________________

🚨 MUST HAVES 🚨

😎 Cool Accessories 😎

🎵 Where I get my music 🎵

MY GEAR:

FOLLOW ME:

____________________
Valve Confirms Support for ROG Ally with SteamOS 3.0

Valve once imagined that every PC maker could have their own "Steam Machine," a PC game console running the company's Linux-based SteamOS. It took a decade for that dream to evolve into the company's own internally developed Steam Deck gaming handheld, but the original dream isn't dead.

The company's long said it plans to let other companies use SteamOS, too — and that means explicitly supporting the rival Asus ROG Ally gaming handheld, Valve designer Lawrence Yang now confirms to The Verge.

A few days ago, some spotted an intriguing line in Valve's latest SteamOS release notes: “Added support for extra ROG Ally keys.” We didn't know Valve was supporting any ROG Ally keys at all, let alone extras!

Maybe Valve was just supporting those keys in the Steam desktop client on a Windows, where it offers a Steam Deck-like Big Picture Mode interface for any PC, and the line mistakenly made it into these patch notes? I asked to be safe.

But no: this is indeed about Valve eventually supporting the ROG Ally and other rival handhelds!

"The note about ROG Ally keys is related to third-party device support for SteamOS. The team is continuing to work on adding support for additional handhelds on SteamOS," Yang tells me.

That doesn't mean Asus will officially bless Valve's installer or sell the Ally with SteamOS, of course. (Asus has told me there are many reasons why it ships with Windows; a big one is that Microsoft has dedicated validation teams that ensure its operating system works across many different hardware configurations and chips.)

And it's not like Valve is suggesting it'll offer SteamOS for rival handhelds anytime soon, either. Valve is “making steady progress,” Yang tells me, but it “isn’t ready to run out of the box yet.”

We already knew Valve plans a general release of SteamOS 3 that you can theoretically install on non-handheld PCs as well; Yang says it's similarly making progress there but it's not ready quite yet.

So that's the update on turning Windows handhelds into Steam Machines; what about Valve's promise to let you turn Steam Decks into dual-booting Windows machines too, letting you swap between the two OS at will? Here's Yang on that:

As for Windows, we’re preparing to make the remaining Windows drivers for Steam Deck OLED available (you might have seen that we are prepping firmware for the Bluetooth driver). There’s no update on the timing for dual boot support—it’s still a priority, but we haven’t been able to get to it just yet.

Valve isn't the only one adapting its compelling combination of Linux and controller-friendly Steam UI to Windows handhelds. Universal Blue touted that its Bazzite operating system had already achieved support for the Asus ROG Ally X before it even came out.

Microsoft Fights Back with Windows Update

Microsoft is introducing a new Compact Mode for the Xbox Game Bar to improve its compatibility with handheld devices that run Windows. This comes off the back of news that Valve is readying SteamOS to be available for the ROG Ally.

While the Xbox app itself got a Compact Mode a while back, this new update specifically for the game bar will improve compatibility considerably.

In short, it should make using the Xbox App a much more streamlined experience and just generally cause fewer headaches during gameplay. It will take the feeling of navigating menus on an Xbox console, which is already a simple and smooth process, and implement this in the handheld app.

By using our affiliate links we may receive compensation for purchases through those links.

[T.O.Wallee]

The Steam Deck continues to be sold at a loss, with Valve profiting from purchases made on Steam. Allowing another company to use their OS, which drives revenue to their store, is essentially a win for Valve.

[edisito]

For a channel called "Deck Ready", its weird that youre upset valve made the steam deck updates a priority over getting steam os on other computers/handhelds. One of the reasons i got a steam deck over an ally is because i knew valve wouldn't abandon it.

[IgnusFast]

The problem with a wide release of SteamOS for PCs is the incredible variety of hardware out there. Targeting the deck means a small, stable hardware platform. A wide release would involve a lot more varied hardware with different levels of driver support (open-source vs. closed.)

[joelflynn]

I want SteamOS on my desktop PC as much as everyone else here. But Valve is doing the absolutely correct thing with the controlled rollout. ROG Ally means a stable, fixed set of components to support - they can make sure everything is working as expected and they can expand the supported hardware over time.

If they released it now you'd just hear people complain that their random hardware configuration isn't working correctly and they'd blame Valve, condemning SteamOS 3 to repeat the fate of SteamOS 2 and Steam Machines (lack of support and people shitting all over it).

I want it too but I'd rather have a working OS when they're ready rather than burning it all to the ground for the sake of having it now.

[sylvershadow]

I’ve got to the point that I just don’t give a damn if they don’t work on SteamOS/Linux. Unless it’s from a franchise I care about, then I’ll just play in a VM.

I think the only reason they used ROG Ally when they announced the expanded compatibility is because it has additional functionality, and once it’s out for other devices, it’ll work on non-Deck properly.
I do care more about Legion Go than the Ally, TBH

[Virtualblueart]

Well, I get the logic of getting it to run well on one other system first.
Steam OS was build on a specific set of hardware and making it work flawlessly on other hardware opens up the whole drivers, chipsets and comparability can of worms.
So doing that on one other system first will expose the biggest problems to tackle for other systems making future versions easier to port.

[TOCC]

Jimmy, I understand where you’re coming from but I’ve watched and waited for the progression of gaming since the 1970’s

[savage]

1:50 I think this is good news, it's good that the Valve is making every effort to improve the Proton

[ShamanWillYT]

You’re telling me duel booting is hard, I have several petitions of Steam oS on accident, sometimes it randomly shows me the boot screen

[vinnyth]

If you got steam OS working on the Ally it is no longer competitor. As long as people are buying steam games steam's making money

[semresistencia]

I think dual boot shouldn't be a priority. steamos growing may be an incentive for developers to replace the anti-cheat with a version that works on Linux.

[caldweab]

Asus flat out said they would still use Windows because of the wide compatibility. SteamOS has some neat features but I can assure if MS gets their act together and make a reasonable Windows overlay for gaming handhelds, Steamdeck sales will probably go down.

[PixelShade]

Considering that Microsoft just now accidentally destroyed GRUB (the Linux bootloader) in dualboot setups with their latest "security update", kind of showcase the complexity of dual booting, and why Valve isn't necessarily confident that it will offer a good end-user experience. I mean. even though I am a tech-nerd myself, I would never want to mix Windows with other OSes. Microsoft is just too much of an "unreliable partner".

[jessejames]

Thank you for your devotion to the phenomenal steam deck.

[zk]

Building an OS is one thing. Building it so it works on another device is harder...but doable. Making so it can run with every hardware configuration you might have under the sun in your home rig, that's A LOT harder. Remember Jimmy, before Steam OS, the only choice for most people was Windows. I for one will patiently wait. I'm sick of Microsoft, they've haunted every gaming rig since they became the de-facto standard.

[casualgamer]

Just makes me feel better about selling my team deck oled. The higher resolution, refresh rate with vrr and better performance is a better that just having oled on worse hardware.

[alexanderstreng]

I really believe that waiting for general steam os release won’t make a difference on your razor blade laptop compared to regular linux distros (Pop os, fedora etc). Valve is using a lot of open-source software for desktop environment, gpu drivers etc. So whatever is on Steam Deck is pretty much on regular desktop linux.

[xervantezxvi]

I used to hate my Steam deck but now I got Steam Deck Oled I am loving it more I wish they make small Steam deck as well

[gangwu]

MS could drop a Xbox OS like system for handheld PCs and that would make things much better.

[rhekman]

I feel like expectations for a general SteamOS 3 release for any PC should be tempered. It's not like it's going to be some amazing perfect experience just because it's from Valve. There have been billion dollar companies making Linux distros for years like Canonical (Ubuntu) and Red Hat (Fedora) and they've barely made a dent in the desktop operating system market. Valve has the advantage of being focused on making an OS that plays games really well, and having all the middleware (Steamworks, SteamInput, Proton) in-house certainly helps. But they still can't get past the anti-cheat vendors to make it seamless.