Ever since Valve took the wraps off the Steam Deck and showed us how good Linux gaming could be, I have been hooked. I've been a distro-dabbler most of my life but never quite found the one to keep my attention long-term. Even before I got my hands on one of the handheld consoles, I could already see how transformative it was for the mass adoption of Linux.

Then, just before the Steam Deck OLED was released, I got one of my own, and it's had a huge impact on my gaming habits. I've been going back through my library and finishing indie games that I didn't want to use my powerful gaming PC for, as well as long RPGs like Fallout 4 that I could play for a little while and then save my progress. The last time a piece of gaming hardware changed my habits was years ago when I bought the Game Boy Micro. I took it everywhere, playing it on the bus, before work, during lunch breaks, and even when out in the burgeoning EDM scene at the time.

Now, Valve has said it will soon be releasing a beta of SteamOS 3 that will support more devices, and I couldn't be more excited. The option to use SteamOS on the ROG Ally X or Legion Go is very alluring, and the tease that it might work as a desktop distro for other hardware is fantastic. I can't wait to get it installed on the more capable hardware of other PC gaming handhelds, and I'll be building a new PC to use with my TV for couch gaming as well.

5 Windows needs competition as a gaming OS

It's never been the best option, but the only option

Before Microsoft Windows was a thing, home computers ran their games on variations of DOS and BASIC, depending on which manufacturer you got your computer from. Then Windows came along and eventually took over as the de facto operating system for personal computing, at least if you were a gamer. It's even powering the Xbox nowadays in a customized form, so developers know they can make their games run on Windows and find an audience. Apple's macOS is still terrible for gaming, even after a huge push to make it easier to port games to the platform, and Linux has only recently become a viable option.

Valve made Linux gaming a viable alternative to Windows because of its Proton compatibility layer. This layer translates Windows-only games to run on Linux as if they were coded for Linux. It's an impressive technical achievement, and it works with the majority of Windows games—except for those that come through the Microsoft Store, but that's another story.

The main thing to know is that SteamOS can play most Windows games as if they were native apps, and that means you can use your existing libraries of games with the Linux-based operating system. It does this so well that only some games need any manual tweaking to get running, and the list of games that refuse to load is even smaller. The year of the Linux desktop might finally be near.

4 SteamOS big picture mode is perfect for couch gaming

I can't wait for a Steam Machine to be a viable option for playing on the TV

I spend far too much time sitting at my desk, so whenever I can, I prefer to play games from the comfort of my couch. That means I either deal with the lower power of gaming consoles or use a more powerful PC running Windows. Because of how annoying Windows can be to navigate, I tend to sacrifice frame rates for convenience and pick up one of the console controllers, or plug in my Steam Deck and use that on the TV.

But with SteamOS 3 beta coming as an installable file that works on other devices, I can install it on a more powerful PC to stay plugged into the TV. That means I can always boot up into Steam with the Steam Deck dashboard instead of having to open Steam and go into Big Picture mode. Admittedly, that's only removing a few extra steps, but that can be enough friction to make me not want to play any games after a long day.

3 Windows 11 is holding back handhelds

Competition is good for everybody who owns a PC gaming handheld

Windows 11 is designed as an "everything" operating system, and it does that well when you're using it on a desktop PC or laptop. It's even fine on a tablet, because the larger screens are what the UI was built around. But on a 7" or 8" PC gaming handheld screen, Windows 11 sucks. There's no nice way to talk about how bad it is as a mobile operating system, with bad navigation, a virtual keyboard that takes up most of the screen, and too many legacy apps and features that aren't optimized for the smaller screen.

Whatever Microsoft says about wanting to take the best of Windows and Xbox and make it into a portable gaming OS, it's going to be very late to the party. SteamOS is polished, uses very few resources, and can boot into desktop mode, so you get the best of both worlds. It was designed to be portable first, and it shows in every interaction. The more devices that can use SteamOS, the better.

Every time we review a PC gaming handheld that's not from Valve, no matter how good the hardware experience is, the cold fact is that Windows is holding back every one of these devices. The manufacturers have tried making their own dashboards to run over Windows as a sort of SteamOS-lite, but you still have to dive into Windows for many features, and it's never an enjoyable time when you do.

2 More market share puts pressure on developers

We might finally get anti-cheat versions for Linux

As it stands, most single-player games are playable on SteamOS. Many multiplayer games are as well, except for those that use various anti-cheat software. While a few developers have reworked their anti-cheat to work on Linux, there are notable holdouts that say the amount of development time that it would take is not representative of the userbase that would use it.

I don't like that reasoning, partly because it's a way to dodge the issue by putting it on the players, but that's the official stance. With SteamOS about to work on more devices, the situation changes, and there could be a significant increase in Linux gamers, which could mean developers have to rethink things. I'd love to play Destiny 2 on SteamOS one day, and that day might be approaching.

1 Lower prices for PC gaming handhelds

Without paying for Windows licenses the hardware can be sold for less

One of the reasons that Valve can sell the Steam Deck at lower prices than other PC gaming handhelds is that it runs Linux. That means not having to pay Microsoft for Windows licenses, as every other handheld maker currently does. The first gaming handheld that's about to change that trend is the upcoming Lenovo Legion Go S, which will be released in a Windows-based model later this month for $729.99. In May, there will be a second Windows model costing $599.99, but there will also be a SteamOS version that starts from $499.99.

That's a $100 difference in the starting price, just for ditching Windows and going with the open-source SteamOS. Lenovo has set a precedent for all other handheld manufacturers with a challenge to offer SteamOS as an option. It'll be interesting to see how many gamers prefer to buy that version over the Windows-based model, and if it will change anything with the other handheld companies.

SteamOS 3 getting a beta for devices other than the Steam Deck is incredibly exciting

The last few years have been fantastic for Linux gamers, with Valve's Proton bringing the easiest way to play almost every game they could on Windows. While Valve is being understandably cagey about which devices other than the Legion Go S will be supported, we've already seen the Asus ROG Ally X pop up in patch notes, and it's probably a fair guess that the Legion Go will also get compatibility. It's taken 12 years for Valve to get here, even if the Steam Deck appeared to be an overnight success.

At this point, we don't know if it will run on desktop PC components, but it could potentially work if your PC is all-AMD. In a recent interview with Pierre-Loup Griffais, one of the SteamOS key developers, he says driver compatibility with Intel and Nvidia components is taking time. Intel is actively working with Valve on the integration, but the open source drivers for Nvidia "is pretty nascent." Plus, there's no installer for SteamOS yet, adding another layer of complexity.

Still, the destination is in sight. This beta round for SteamOS 3 will take the operating system to a new level of usability and compatibility with other devices. It's only a matter of when, not if, for SteamOS to come to the desktop.