If you’ve checked out reviews of different handheld PC gaming systems, you’ve likely noticed that nearly all of them compare these devices to the Steam Deck and often conclude that using Windows is a disadvantage. Essentially, most reviews suggest that running Windows, instead of Linux like the Steam Deck, is actually a drawback, even though Windows provides full software compatibility. The main reason for this is that Linux, particularly in the form of “SteamOS” on the Steam Deck, has much lower system overhead than Windows 11, resulting in better performance and longer battery life.
If you own an ASUS ROG Ally and have been eager to install SteamOS on it, there’s good news—this might officially happen soon. This speculation arises from the patch notes for the SteamOS 3.6.9 Beta, named “Megafixer,” which include a note at the end stating “Added support for extra ROG Ally keys.” It seems unlikely that Valve would add this support unless SteamOS was planned for the Ally.
When Valve introduced the Steam Deck in July 2021, they promised that SteamOS 3 would eventually be released, but it still hasn’t happened. Valve’s Lawrence Yang mentioned to PC Gamer in November of last year that they would “probably start by making it available to other handhelds.” This latest development appears to be the first public move toward fulfilling that promise.
While you can already install Linux on these systems, doing so doesn’t provide all the advantages that SteamOS 3 offers over Windows 11. Yes, you’ll get better efficiency (though with some loss of software compatibility), but you’ll miss out on features like adjusting screen refresh rates and SoC power limits on the fly, or suspending a game by pressing the power button and resuming it when the device starts up again.
ASUS and other manufacturers do offer some of these features on Windows through their pre-installed software, but you’ll need to stick with Windows to use them. If SteamOS 3 eventually supports devices like the ROG Ally/Ally X and Lenovo Legion Go, it could bring these functionalities to Linux for the first time, which is pretty exciting.
Source: Steam
