If you liked this video, you might be interested in my newest video about using Steam's built in features to stream games and download them almost 5x as fast!
I've been a long time user of NTLite and have a few different versions of Windows 11 I've made for steamdeck, Rog Ally and a couple gaming pc's. But id absolutely love to see what you've done with the program for the steamdeck. There are a couple things I'm trying to iron out for windows on deck so another person's aspect on this would be great.
I dual boot but primarily for gamepass, steam OS runs games better on average because of the pre-caching shaders. Thats how a APU two years older than the Z1 extreme can out perform at 10-15 watts. The downside is the storage problems for smaller 64-256gb steam deck models. I don't like windows on deck but if I want access to gamepass which I pay $18 a month for then that's what I will do. While it is a hassle to dual boot it costs nothing, you don't need to activate Win 11, you just tolerate the stupid water mark.
@@Demonizerrr cloud gaming yes, native Microsoft Xbox app no, you can't download or play and games, you can only stream them. Mind as well get the Logitech G cloud at that point.
Great video! I installed Windows 11 not long ago on an sdcard. Might not be best, but I didn't want to partition my internal SSD. Apart from the slow loadings, I feel like it runs really smooth. I personally do it to use Game Pass natively (not xcloud) and for that use case, it gives me the best of both world. Everything else I run via Steam OS, but I wanted something to not only rely on xCloud for Game Pass since I've had that service for years. For now, that responds to my needs really well!
The reason you are seeing the same game have drastically different performance on Steam Deck VS Win11 is because of optimization, drivers, and the OS themselves. Linux by nature is a very lightweight OS. It's never been resource intensive. That's why ALOT of tech nerds will recycle laptops by reformatting them and chucking linux on them instead of just tossing them. Once they get too slow to use with their original OS or you can't upgrade because the system specs are now outdated, chuck Linux on them and they get completely reborn. They run like they are brand new. I know I've done this a few times myself. Wiped an old Windows based laptop and put Ubuntu, Gentoo, or even Arch Linux on it. Second, SteamOS is built to be pretty much direct to metal. Or bare metal. Similar to how consoles run. The compatibility layers required for gaming don't consume much resources. Where as Windows is anything but bare metal. It's got ALOT of various layers between the user and the actual hardware. Also again drivers. Drivers can make or break games on an OS. We've all been there. So when the OS natively supports the hardware from the ground up, of course it's gonna run better because the drivers are properly installed, configured, and optimized for the system. Where as for Windows 11, it has ALOT of missing or outdated drivers so the games aren't properly able to utilize the hardware.
I have my steam deck for almost 2 years and in the beginning Windows and steamos had the same performance. Later on steamos became a lot better. Im using Windows for pc game pass and it works good enough.
i dual boot into windows 11 using a 480gb PNY external SSD and I also use Handheld Companion for a controller configuration. Warzone is very playable for me on the Steam Deck, wonder why it won't launch for you? I am also using a FULL version of Windows 11 Pro "to go" version, I didn't strip the OS down at all, ran everything default out of the box when I initially set up Windows. The only games I have installed on Windows is Call of Duty, Fortnite, and Xbox Game Pass games. All my steam games I run with Steam OS
As someone who prefers the tablet interface of windows and would want to use it like that, its infuriating valve can‘t maintain basic drivers. We should have the option to boot windows for tasks that need windows more so, or things that are just more pleasant in windows. The steam deck is basically also a tablet and i want it to be able to boot as a windows tablet, and the fact its janky to do that makes me disinterested. If a handheld that does support windows ever gets a full port of steam os that would be preferable. But now it just feels like there’s no point in any of these handhelds as someone looking for a pc tablet that has controls. Just frustrating to see valve restricting options like that. The whole “linux is better” is moot, i want to be able to use both as i see them useful for. When linux has as good of a tablet interface as windows maybe. It’s infuriating to see this be so shit years later.
Kinda the same but since old the 512 model price tanked. Steam might have done a lot with Linux but that's just if you like to download a game and play with no customization. So many annoying hoops I have to jump through just to do simple minor task that would be a drag and drop or double click on windows.
@@Saulram91that applies to Linux in general not just the steam deck. Put linux on your desktop and you'll run into the same thing. Linux does a lot of things much better then windows too. Plus it doesn't sell your data like Microsoft does
I had windows installed on my deck for about 5 months and tbh it really isnt that bad, but in my opinion steam os is a bit easier to navigate through 😅
Anybody having issues with hdmi in Windows 11? I’m having issues where the orientation is wrong even when I manually put it back to landscape and the screen ratio is off as well. I’m not sure how to fix this issue 😔
I only use windows in dual boot on my deck for rust..l steam os run everything well. Runs about 30-60 fps and controller is decent just have to remap the mic button. I use the modded AMD drivers (rx 670) no crashing or problems.
would be nice to see more games tested and maybe use the official drivers for comparison. Some people reported that the amd driver update reduced fps by a lot so you might have to find the older version that was better. Also, did you check to see if windows auto installed some garbage drivers over what you did?
I’m only going to have windows 11 installed just for madden 25 most likely it will have a anti cheat like M24 other then that Linux is a good software from my experience
Yeah, although you would still need to install the drivers and fixes and such! I used my own custom debloated windows install which is like tiny11 so I don't see why not
i really don't see the point in doing this... if the gaming results are similar (or even lower on the Windows side), i see no reason to use Windows on a Steam Deck. and i'm focusing only on gaming because, realistically, what else can the steam deck be used for? it certainly can't be a workstation for creatives. if anything, it might be able to serve as a budget-friendly alternative to a laptop, provided you have your own peripherals. if desktop mode makes the machine look jailbroken, i imagine there are a bunch of JB projects that use Linux as a base. makes sense, given the somewhat rising support of the kernel. then again, you can change the theme quite easily to make it look nicer. all in all, i feel like this is only a solution to people who A. are more comfortable with Windows *and* B. already have a Steam Deck, because if you don't already have a Steam Deck, there's hardly any reason not to get a ROG Ally.
Many of the PC games I usually play aren't on Steam or I don't own them on Steam, that's a reason there. Steam Deck is much cheaper than ROG Ally or Legion Go. It's a shame that running Windows on it is so sketchy. I was planning to get a Steam Deck for traveling but I'm beginning to reconsider, unfortunately.
@@wilfredoborras3063 Yep, as what I've seen installing other launchers in SteamOS is sketchy or almost impossible, and the drivers for Windows are terrible... I think I'll go with the Legion Go, but I'll see...
@@jondasek yeah, i recommend that. Just get something that has native windows support, I can’t believe everyone unironically claims that steamOS is good…
On a handheld, steam os is far superior to anything with windows, I'll just wait for those few anticheat games, I can live without playing them on the go, I got my series x for that anyways, playing a comp game on a handheld is beyond dumb, good luck with that KD...
@JDabz96 yes you are correct steam os is better for handheld games, but it's not like windows is hard to use. U literally download a game, click on the game, and play the game. I'm sure you do the same on steam os. Smh if windows is gard to use then I guess you're just lazy or dumb idk ...u pick. And who said anything about comp games? 🙄 tf u talking about
The reason Linux runs better is because it runs a compatible layer. It doesn’t make sense unless you understand emulation, verification and how the system handles these processes. Basically because it’s running Linux and is using emulation and verification it can perform some tasks before it gets rendered allowing for smoother gameplay and better performance.
Bro I just got a steam deck and realized I’m probably never gonna be able to get any emulators or anything like that because I am not good with computers like that 😢
It's worth selling the Steam Deck and buying an ROG Ally,. Such a superior system in almost every way. My Steam Deck was good for its time but VRR and the 8c16t CPU and GPU APU is such an upgrade
Lol, launchers are a dev issue, not valve, ubisofts launcher is trash, so is battlenet, but they both work with tinkering, the devs just dont want to make it easy for steam OS, that's it
For now it's useless to install windows there's no official drivers for windows to steam deck oled so i think i will install windows but on steam deck 2 when it comes out
The reason you often see better performance on SteamOS has little to nothing to do with what OS you're running the game on. Some games have very bad multi threading or they are heavily limited by draw calls like GTA 4 is with DX9 and DXVK can fix those kind of issues to some extent. You could make a video by using the Windows build of DXVK in the games that allow it and see if it improves performance or not, sure would be an interesting video. Beware however, while DXVK might improve performance it leads to significantly higher latency. All games I tested usually had about double the render latency compared to running native on Windows so if you're very latency sensitive Windows might be a must have over SteamOS since only Linux native games can avoid the huge latency penalty with DXVK that most games have to use with SteamOS.
Yeah, Windows is NOT good. I tried it out for like a month... This is how bad it is. GTA San Andreas. The original PC port with some light fixes. Had stutter when loading new areas... Made absolutely no sense at all.
as much as I would like to have both the steamdeck design, and windows that I can download everything, all of those issues I suffered made me say I can't. I tried, and now I use steamOS on the deck like it was meant to be, and now I'm getting the rog ally. yes a lot of steamdeck users hates the ally, but based on everything, this device was made for me. Trackpad would be good tho. that's my only down side from the ally. Legion go it's big... lol too big, also speakers nah... nice to have 2 usb cs tho. anyways windows based handheld pcs it is. I will be still playing the deck from time to time
@@leonardodavinci7425 you can, but it's wonky. I wouldn't recommend. Actually, even on the deck, depending on the game it can eat your battery alive. best to just turn it off, and sleep while not in game
why the hell would out put the garbage win 11 on SD! Win 11 is the the worst OS ever developed. well may be Windows Me or Windows Vista. Well I digress.
I initially hated W11 on my work PC, but I'm used to it now, and it's not bad. It has some good features W10 doesn't like opening different Windows explorer tabs in the same browser
