Please don't respond if your reason is "because more games will work on Windows". What games? What software? I will keep SteamOS most likely, but why are some fo you installing windows?
Who is installing Windows on their deck and why?
- Thread starter Trevor
- Start date
I got Game Pass recently on that deal for 3 months for $1. I'll use SteamOS primarily but having Windows to dualboot with should be useful for Game Pass and random games with conflicting anti-cheat etc.
I’ll decide once i have the steam deck, because i’m not a great expert of linux (hardly know nothing about it).. one of the main reasons if i do it it will be for gtaV to play on fiveM, or to install other mods related to gtaV.. As i said before i hardly know nothing about linux and from what i’ve understood on reddit, it’s not possible with the original operating system
I believe I will have a dual-boot as well. I would likely keep a microSD card just for this. But, I don't have gamepads, so it would probably be for production stuff (Office or Visual Studio).
Mods are likely not possible right now, I would almost bet that a lot of mods will start coming to Linux after SD releases. Assuming it's as popular as we all hope that is..
If valve does everything right then you don't need to know anything. We will see when the reviews come out but i am certain that the deck will be simple af so you don't need any knowledge
(Unless you wanna tinker with it and install third party stuff yadayada)For now I’m thinking of buying a good SD card to install windows on, and use it to play older games like Morrowind, Microsoft Train Simulator, Dune 2000, and my favorite DOS game Ascendancy, I’m just wondering what the text readability will be like on those games.
I’m not new to Linux although certainly not an expert either, so that’s why I will be installing some emulators on Linux and not on Windows.
I’m not new to Linux although certainly not an expert either, so that’s why I will be installing some emulators on Linux and not on Windows.
Honestly, I had GamePass for quite a while, and while I kind of enjoyed the flair of "owning" so many Games at once, it wasn't really useful. I mean it's nice if you can theoretically try out that one or four games for just 1€, but I am done giving microsoft my money for now.
I myself will stick to SteamOS, and will only dual-boot if urgently necessary for something that I want to do. Even if it means that I can not play a certain game on the Deck but would be able to on Windows, I'd just rather play it on my PC or stream it through Steam Link.
I hear so many people saying they will go straight into dual-booting, but I believe one should see if it really is necessary for their usecase and if it's worth the effort and resources compared to just use the options I mentioned previously.
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I would expect all of those older games to run well under proton, maybe use dosbox for Ascendancy. I just checked protondb for Morrowind and it will apparently run great.
I will try to avoid a windows installation on the deck. I want to get used to linux first, as I haven't had much contact with it yet, but find it interesting. I want to keep the deck as clean as possible and always have the feeling with windows that a lot of things are installed and changed by updates, which I have little influence on, until the system is slow at some point. Also, I don't use any other launcher than Steam, so I probably get around Windows quite well.
Mainly to have access to all store fronts and game pass ultimate. I have a lot of games on Epic and game pass is great as well. Possibly, with windows 11, we'll be able to run some android games as well, since my experience with android emulation through Linux wasn't that great.
Another reason would be the ability to run trainers without too many headaches.
I got the 512 just for dual booting reasons, since installing windows on a SD card, no matter how fast it is, it's a really poor experience and it will wear off that card fast. Running games of a SD card is not an issue at all, I've been doing that on switch for many years now.
I just hope I won't run into issues like windows screwing up grub (it's known for doing that), or difficult boot select access.
Another reason would be the ability to run trainers without too many headaches.
I got the 512 just for dual booting reasons, since installing windows on a SD card, no matter how fast it is, it's a really poor experience and it will wear off that card fast. Running games of a SD card is not an issue at all, I've been doing that on switch for many years now.
I just hope I won't run into issues like windows screwing up grub (it's known for doing that), or difficult boot select access.
I've been running linux since late 2019, and I'll never mess with windows on a machine again. Valve, WineHQ and codeweavers have made huge strides in the last few years into compatibility, so much so that I don't even notice anymore. It's become second nature to just run this system with Linux Mint.
And so far, since the introduced Wine 7.0.0, I haven't had any games fail to run. If that's achievable on a machine running linux mint, it's certainly possible with the Steam Deck.
And so far, since the introduced Wine 7.0.0, I haven't had any games fail to run. If that's achievable on a machine running linux mint, it's certainly possible with the Steam Deck.
So far no plans for Windows on Deck
But its to early to say. Maybe if some Games that I really want to play are not working properly .. but in this case I would first try inhouse streaming. I have enough Games in Steam, no need to move to Epic / Gamepass. Will be interesting to see what people do with their Decks in terms of Software. If there is an easy way to boot up Windows via SD card, then why not try it.
But its to early to say. Maybe if some Games that I really want to play are not working properly .. but in this case I would first try inhouse streaming. I have enough Games in Steam, no need to move to Epic / Gamepass. Will be interesting to see what people do with their Decks in terms of Software. If there is an easy way to boot up Windows via SD card, then why not try it.
I'm really hoping that Game Pass is going to be natively supported on the Deck eventually. I'd be surprised if Microsoft isn't working on it in some measure. At a minimum, it should take very little to get the level of operability available on Android phones, though granted, that would limited to streaming. I'd prefer to keep my deck running it's per-installed and official OS, but I'd consider a dual boot based on the experience of others as time goes by.
It already would achieve that by launching xCloud through the Web Browser.
Yeah, I get that, and to be honest, I haven't launched the browser version so I don't know if there's feature parity.
I guess you’re right, after all these are old games running on a old DirectX, there shouldn’t be any problems or performance issues. But my geek side is telling me to install windows and see what is it’s like on Steamdeck. I don’t have intentions to partitioning the SSD, I will install windows on the SDcard.
Actually I wonder if or better how we can boot from SD card .. will there be some kind of boot menu ?
They said it will be possible on the FAQ page. I guess we'll see how easy it will actuality be.
I would not install an os on the SD card tho. It keeps the disk usage at 100% at all times.
With the 64GB Version I will not have an alternative ^^ Why is disk usage at 100% with SD card?
I'm assuming the lack of a built-in controller and limited bandwidth. You should see the Linus vid about it, he explained it better.
In the deck's case, if windows alone will heavily use the disk, games might not run that well at all. Not to mention the wear level of the card will be devastating.
First I'll try booting off an external nvme from SanDisk, which is extremely fast, being 3.2 gen 2.
But in the end, I might be wrong, who knows how the deck will handle things.
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