Differences Steam Deck OS Versions for Laptops: Which One to Choose?

[thinkProgress]

Hey,
I’m wondering about the differences in how to install the OS from the Steam Deck to my laptop. I found three different downloads for the system. What are the differences between these three versions?
1. Arch Linux basic without Steam apps
https://www.techspot.com/downloads/5571-arch-linux.html
2. Steam OS Build Your Own Machine (different from Deck OS)
https://store.steampowered.com/steamos/buildyourown
3. Steam Deck OS for laptops
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/1B71-EDF2-EB6D-2BB3

[PopinFRESH]

The actual SteamOS 3 is not generally available yet. It is still only available for the Steam Deck and just recently expanded to support some 3rd party devices with the first being the Lenovo Legion Go S.

Your first link is just a techspot about Arch Linux, which is what SteamOS 3 is based on. It is not "SteamOS". EDIT: I wouldn't suggest downloading any OS from a 3rd party rather than downloading it from the official download; such as Official Arch Linux Downloads[archlinux.org].

Your second link is a link to the old SteamOS pages from back when Valve launched the Steam Machines in 2015 and that distribution is no longer supported and is deprecated. If you actually try to click the download links on those pages you'll find that it is redirected to the Steam Deck recovery image.

Your third link is not "Steam Deck OS for Laptops"; it is simply the link to the Steam Deck Recovery Image to restore/reimage an actual Steam Deck.

If you want something similar / about as close to the Steam Deck experience for a Laptop or Desktop PC then your best bet currently is Bazzite[bazzite.gg]. Bazzite is based on Fedora, which is the upstream RedHat project for RHEL; and the Bazzite developers have ported and/or refactored most of the Steam Deck UI from SteamOS 3 and implemented it on Fedora for their project.

There are other options as well that give you a similar console like experience for Linux, such as ChimeraOS, but if you are looking specifically for the Steam Deck UI / SteamOS 3 experience then Bazzite is the closest thing available currently.

[r.linder]

The SteamOS version on the second link isn't even available anymore and it runs off a decade outdated version of Debian.

For all intents and purposes, Bazzite is a "replacement" or fill-in for SteamOS