Steam Deck Operating System Dilemma

[The Nintendo Patent Lawsuit Fest]

So, there's an issue I'm looking for opinions on.

I would like to use Windows on the Deck because of Xbox Game Pass which will not work on Linux due to the strict DRM. But my understanding is that Valve will optimize SteamOS for this device to the point that some games might perform noticeably better.

Originally I was thinking "I'll just dual-boot Windows and SteamOS". But then I remembered that several Linux games require ext3 or ext4 and Windows doesn't read that file system.

It seems that to do this I would have to split the internal storage to one half NTFS Windows partition and one half ext4 Linux partition. Which is not ideal at all, as it leads to wasted space where you for example want to install a 100 GB game and you have 60 GB left on Windows and 60 GB left on Linux. That sucks.

Anyone else made a decision on this yet?

[Electric Cupcake]

Need more info about the bios and boot sector before considering dualbooting.

[_I_]

or use remote play to play non steam games from host pc

[kilésengati]

You would have to create separate partitions for different operating systems anyway, so using the operating systems' native file systems is custom. Even half a terabyte is a bit limiting for dual-booting, so even if you can dual-boot, your best bet is a well-implemented flash card slot and external drives. (The internal drive appears to be upgradable, although that's not intended for the end-user, but that's rather expensive anyway.) Dual-booting or not, users will have to plan which games they are taking with them and which games they leave on their drives at home.

I initially was hyped about dual-booting, but the further I've thought about it, the more unattractive it became. Because most games I play are either native to Linux or work well with Proton already, having a bulky, unoptimised OS on limited hardware is just a waste of resources. Unless the new SteamOS turns out to be a complete privacy nightmare, I wouldn't even install another distro.

[The Nintendo Patent Lawsuit Fest]

Frankly the "bulkiness" of Windows is very exaggerated for gaming. Games run pretty well on the GPD Win for example, Windows 10 knows to allocate most available resources to the game when you play.

But again, Linux is mostly fine, especially if they manage to sort out the incompatibility with certain anti-cheats. The crux for me is Xbox Game Pass.

[The Nintendo Patent Lawsuit Fest]

Another thing I just realized is attending LAN parties could be an issue with SteamOS. Usually the network is set up to expect Windows, at least I've never seen anyone use Linux before.

If this global pandemic that is currently going on will ever settle, that is

[🦜Cloud Boy🦜]

Nguyên văn bởi Altefier:

So, there's an issue I'm looking for opinions on.

. But my understanding is that Valve will optimize SteamOS for this device to the point that some games might perform noticeably better.

Anyone else made a decision on this yet?

Your understanding is wrong. Windows is better for gaming than Linux, and change of OS can't magically increase the game performance. Game performance depends mainly on hardware you have (aka CPU & GPU). And Valve can't optimize anything. They just put things together ( aka hardware and software). Only the individual game developers can optimize their games, to work better on some specific hardware (like we have seen in consoles).

Just remove Steam OS, install Windows. Install Steam Client. Play games like a normal desktop Windows PC on Steam Deck. ALL games supported.

[x_wing]

Nguyên văn bởi Altefier:

Another thing I just realized is attending LAN parties could be an issue with SteamOS. Usually the network is set up to expect Windows, at least I've never seen anyone use Linux before.

If this global pandemic that is currently going on will ever settle, that is

Unless your friends network have active directory as a mandatory requirement, I fail to see what other networking issue you can face with a Linux OS.

[Omega]

Nguyên văn bởi 🌈Cloud Boy🌈:

Nguyên văn bởi Altefier:

So, there's an issue I'm looking for opinions on.

. But my understanding is that Valve will optimize SteamOS for this device to the point that some games might perform noticeably better.

Anyone else made a decision on this yet?

Your understanding is wrong. Windows is better for gaming than Linux, and change of OS can't magically increase the game performance. Game performance depends mainly on hardware you have (aka CPU & GPU). And Valve can't optimize anything. They just put things together ( aka hardware and software). Only the individual game developers can optimize their games, to work better on some specific hardware (like we have seen in consoles).

Just remove Steam OS, install Windows. Install Steam Client. Play games like a normal desktop Windows PC on Steam Deck. ALL games supported.

No, you are both horribly wrong and lack any technical know-how on this topic.

What is better for gaming is purely personal preference.
- If you consider compatibility with modern games important then Windows is better.
- If you consider compatibility with older games important then Linux is better.
- If you consider performance important then it will highly depend on the games in question.
- If you care about having an non-intrusive operating system then Linux is the clear winner.

Game performance is highly dependant on drivers. You can have the best hardware available, but if you combine it with poor drivers you will still have something useless for gaming. Try running a 2080 Ti under Nouveau, then tell me again that only hardware matters.

Valve has a team working on AMDGPU and MESA. AMDGPU is the open source AMD graphics drivers in the kernel, MESA is a collection of open source graphics API implementations for AMD hardware among others. An example of a major contribution done by Valve and it's partners would be ACO, the Amd COmpiler, it is a shader compiler which became default in MESA 20.2 replacing the LLVM compiler. It yielded significantly better shader compile times and a nice performance boost.

Another example of what Valve and Collabora are working on is a Linux kernel module called FUTEX2 superseding the old FUTEX, it can be used by WINE and Proton to improve Windows game compatibility.

[Coffee]

Did they even released somehow a working build of SteamOS 3.0?

[Omega]

Nguyên văn bởi ⎝⧹Evanescence⧸⎠:

Did they even released somehow a working build of SteamOS 3.0?

Not yet, Valve currently only still supplies the old SteamOS 2.0 images. But I would expect it within the next couple of months, some time before december, to allow for community testing and feedback. Valve isn't the kind of company which keeps these things locked until official release.

[Coffee]

Nguyên văn bởi Omega:

Nguyên văn bởi ⎝⧹Evanescence⧸⎠:

Did they even released somehow a working build of SteamOS 3.0?

Not yet, Valve currently only still supplies the old SteamOS 2.0 images. But I would expect it within the next couple of months, some time before december, to allow for community testing and feedback. Valve isn't the kind of company which keeps these things locked until official release.

Yeah, I suspect they REALLY changed it a lot to get it damn better.

I'm more pissed at them not showing any infos on the etched glass.

[The Nintendo Patent Lawsuit Fest]

Nguyên văn bởi 🌈Cloud Boy🌈:

Your understanding is wrong. Windows is better for gaming than Linux

No, that depends on the game. If you look at benchmarks some games actually do perform slightly better on Linux, even if they are using Wine or Proton. But also, this is a hardware with its own custom-taylored OS. It is possible that it's a little better for things like I/O, the controller might have lower latency, that sort of stuff. Not that it would be a huge or even very noticeable difference, but still.

Nguyên văn bởi 🌈Cloud Boy🌈:

and change of OS can't magically increase the game performance.

Again, depends on the game, so this is a yes.