Valve announced today that Windows 10 drivers for the Steam Deck will be provided. The drivers will enhance hardware compatibility for users who want to use the Microsoft OS.
The drivers that have been launched will be for the GPU, WiFi, and Bluetooth support. Audio drivers are still being worked on by AMD said Valve. So users cannot use the speakers or headphone jack at the moment and must use Bluetooth or USB devices in the meantime.
On the other hand, Windows 11 drivers are still being developed and will come later with a BIOS update to enable fTPM support that is mandatory for Windows 11.
The Steam Deck does not currently support dual-booting but will soon come, so for now, you can only replace the SteamOS with Windows 10 and vice-versa.
The device is technically a handheld x86 PC that can support any desktop OS but full functionality still requires driver support. Meanwhile, the handheld comes with SteamOS out of the box which is a Linux-based OS that uses a Proton emulator to run Windows games on the Steam store.
Additionally, the SteamOS is specifically built for the Steam Deck hardware and it currently has good games support on launch. But it still does not currently support all games on Steam the way Windows does or from other sources such as Epic Games store or Microsoft store, the latter is needed for Games Pass.
This is the reason why users will want to install Windows on their handheld system provided they are ready to tackle some incompatibility issues.
Started his freelancing adventure in 2018 and began doing freelance Audio Engineering work and then started freelance writing a few years later.
Currently he writes for Gadget Pilipinas and Grit.PH.
He is also a musician, foody, gamer, and PC enthusiast.
