The hardware inside the Steam Deck is very capable of gaming on Windows. But Valve designed the gaming handheld to run on its own Linux distribution, the SteamOS. So, while it's possible to unofficially get Microsoft's operating system installed on the device, you don't get the same level of performance as SteamOS, especially in terms of battery life.

However, now that Valve has officially released Windows drivers for Steam Deck, running the operating system on the gaming handheld may just be more feasible than before. These drivers are ready to be downloaded from the official support sectionof Steam, and they are available for both the LCD and OLED variants.

But even with official Windows drivers, you are more likely to get the best gaming experience with SteamOS. As reported by many users who have installed Windows on Steam Deck before, Valve's operating system is more responsive on the gaming handheld. It's properly optimized to make the hardware insidedeliver a better performance.

Moreover, Microsoft Windows 11 wasn't designed for handhelds to begin with. The UI is not controller-friendly, and many applications don't scale well on smaller screens that devices like Steam Deck come with. Of course, the company appears to be taking the Windows experience on a gaming handheld a little more seriously than before. It has recently introduced a dedicated Xbox Game Bar compact modefor such devices (Z1 Extreme ROG Ally curr. $499.99 on Best Buy), and there could be more improvements on the way.

Still, having official support to install Windows on Steam Deck is definitely a positive aspect. Another thing to note is that you aren't actually limited to SteamOS and Windows. You can also try out other Linux distros. Also, if you want to run Windows games and applications that don't perform well or are not supported on SteamOS, you can try out acustom Proton build.

Hello WinDeck fans! We’ve just shipped APU, Audio, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth drivers for Windows on Steam Deck OLED. You can find the updated drivers and notes here: https://t.co/zjU2UbJhz8If you’re planning to install Windows, please make sure you have the latest BIOS from SteamOS… pic.twitter.com/mgrLL2QIN5

— Steam Deck (@OnDeck) August 15, 2024