The Steam Deck is a portable gaming PC, and Windows dominates the PC gaming landscape.
Many of us suspected this would be the case, back before the Steam Decks launch.
But the Steam Deck is out now, and most people dont bother with installing Windows.
The majority stick with Linux, and heres why.
That doesnt mean its hard, not at all, but its still something most people will never do.
The risk is high if something goes wrong.
But if everythings working, why take a stab at fix it?
Its the exact opposite.
The experience most owners encounter has turned out to be rather good.
The Steam Deck looks like a console, and the default interface delivers.
The Desktop Mode, which provides a largely vanilla KDE Plasma desktop, is reliable too.
And thats without installing Windows.
Valve is pouring time and money into improving SteamOS.
But this isnt a matter of applying surface-level patches.
So if you want the optimal experience with the latest Deck-specific updates, you want to stick with Linux.
The number of PC games that support Windows completely dwarfs those made with Linux in mind.
Butthe Proton compatibility layermakes a large number of these Windows games playable on a Linux-powered machine.
Valve doesnt actually distinguish between games made for Linux and those that depend on Proton.
And it doesnt need to, because the difference doesnt matter to the player.
That game might become playable in the future.
You feel like you shoehorned an OS onto a unit it wasnt intended for.
Linux on the Steam Deck Just Works
Thats the major takeaway here.
A company can ship it on a consumer-facing rig and deliver a good experience.
But the Steam Deck actually puts traditional desktop Linux in peoples hands, and that has gone smoothly too.
