Key findings
- SteamOS can improve the performance of portable gaming devices through faster speeds and better power management, potentially extending battery life.
- SteamOS offers detailed performance settings not available in Windows 11, giving users more control and customization for a smoother experience.
- SteamOS’s gaming UI is optimized for handhelds, making navigation more intuitive compared to Windows 11’s clunky UI.
With the advent of PC gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck and Asus ROG Ally, it has become painfully obvious that Windows 11 is not an operating system well suited to this form factor. This has led to many people asking for SteamOS to be ported to other handhelds, and it looks like Valve is delivering, with recent information suggesting the company is building support for Asus ROG Ally into the operating system.
This is fantastic news, and if Valve does indeed fully support ROG Ally, it would improve the experience in many ways. So let’s look at a few reasons why SteamOS will make the handheld better than Windows.
Better performance
Linux is often faster than Windows
Most people who have never used Linux probably don’t know it, but computers often run faster on Linux than Windows, and it shows in benchmark results. I also noticed it in games when I installed Bazzite (a SteamOS clone) on a Windows gaming handheld. When I used the same power settings as on Windows, games usually ran a bit faster on Bazzite.
Windows is a complex operating system with many components that aren’t really necessary for a portable gaming device. These components end up eating up system resources. This is probably one reason why Windows handhelds aren’t as fast. Microsoft would need to tweak the operating system to make it more suitable for this form factor, but as it stands, SteamOS is clearly the better option.
This could also affect battery life. Windows’ background tasks are likely to use more power, and on top of that, Windows sometimes handles sleep and hibernation poorly, so battery life can suffer even more. SteamOS should provide a better experience.
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Better performance settings
Proper TDP controls
Windows 11’s performance settings are incredibly limited and companies like Asus have to develop proprietary solutions for things like TDP settings and framerate limiters. However, these implementations aren’t perfect and in fact the ROG Ally is quite limited in this regard. You can choose from a few performance modes but that only gives you options for 10W, 15W, 25W or 30W. Likewise, the framerate limiter only supports values like 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 frames per second. While you do have a manual mode that lets you get very in-depth, that requires navigating menus and changing things that aren’t easy for most people to understand.
SteamOS offers users finer control right in its overlay, allowing you to easily change detailed settings on the fly and create profiles for each game. You can change the TDP incrementally so that games can consume as little as 5W and others, say, 12W. Likewise, the frame rate limiter supports granular control so you can get exactly the frame rate you want and potentially save more power while still having a good gaming experience.
This is something the Steam Deck does very well, and even if you try a SteamOS clone on a Windows handheld, it’s possible to bring this solution to other hardware, so I hope this happens when SteamOS comes to the ROG Ally. It will be a big improvement.
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A decent user interface for a gaming handheld
Windows is not suitable for this
By far the biggest flaw with Windows that makes it such a poor experience for handheld gaming is the lack of a proper user interface for almost everything. In recent months Microsoft has made some improvements and tweaked the Xbox and Game Bar apps to make them more user-friendly for handheld gaming, but Windows itself is flawed at its core. Asus layers some software on top of Windows to make the experience more pleasant, but you can’t quite get over how clunky Windows feels with a small touchscreen and controller inputs.
The big appeal of SteamOS is that it boots into the Gaming UI (which forms the basis of Steam’s current Big Picture mode) which is fully optimized for this type of input. You can easily browse your games and settings using the touchscreen and buttons, through an interface designed specifically for this type of input. With this UI, everything is much more intuitive, with everything from performance settings to specific game options available in the menus.
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Is that enough to switch?
Of course, all of these advantages come with disadvantages. Since SteamOS is based on Linux, there are many games that are not designed for that platform, requiring the Proton compatibility layer, which in turn can affect performance somewhat. Some games may also be completely unplayable on a different operating system. Even game stores don’t all support Linux and you’ll need to find alternatives for things like the Epic Games Store.
Plus, installing another operating system is just a hassle that most people don’t want to do, and there’s no getting around it. But I think SteamOS appearing on the Asus ROG Ally and other handhelds running Windows is a good thing overall.
