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Games run faster on SteamOS than Windows 11, Ars testing finds
(arstechnica.com)
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this post was submitted on 25 Jun 2025
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I guess things run faster without the spyware, logging, and other general bullshit running in the background. Who could've guessed?
Device made with software specifically for purpose performs better than generic machine with generic software designed to do a wide range of things. All of my machines are on Linux distros, but this just seems like a no brainer to me. It's like years ago when the mustang had a 4.6L V8. It was the same engine used in the Ford explorer. Will the Mustang beat the Explorer to 60, of course. But the Explorer will also transport 5 people to the beach with coolers and beach gear and drive in the sand.
It's good that SteamOS is doing well, but the variety of tasks people are using Windows for cannot be performed on SteamOS.
What?
SteamOS is just an immutable version of Arch Linux, with some Valve flavor and preinstalled apps.
So you are saying SteamOS is not designed/tuned to be used primarily for games on a system without a keyboard/mouse?
No it's not it's just arch.
Go install arch right now, install steam and set big picture mode to launch in login.
Tada you have steamOS.
Yes this is an over simplification to a degree but honestly it really is just that simple really.
It's arch, so no. The hardware that utilizes the OS is fine tuned to be used with a controller, since a controller is literally built into it.
Proton is the fine tuned bit, but that runs on many distros.
https://www.makeuseof.com/key-differences-steamos-and-arch-linux/
That is not the smoking gun you think it is.
Again... SteamOS is just an immutable version of Arch Linux. That's what they are talking about in the article when they talk about turning off "read-only" mode. Being immutable makes it less likely to break/more stable, but doesn't "fine-tune" it for gaming.
Saying it's "fine-tuned" for gaming takes away from what is actually doing the heavy lifting for gaming on linux, which is Proton. One could argue Proton is "fine-tuned" WINE, but SteamOS is not "fine-tuned" for gaming.
Why do you want your windows gaming handheld (e.g. Ally) doing non gaming things?
I don't expect a steakhouse to bring me a Swiss army knife to cut my steak with because it can do more than cut steak? I don't need a can opener when eating steak. Same is true for bringing the right OS for the job of gaming.
Why do you want your windows gaming handheld (e.g. Ally) doing non gaming things?
I don't expect a steakhouse to bring me a Swiss army knife to cut my steak with because it can do more than cut steak? I don't need a can opener when eating steak. Same is true for bringing the right OS for the job of gaming.
Also...SteamOS can do a lot as a full OS. It may be tailored to handheld gaming, but it is more capable than you think.
I don't, I was saying it makes sense that bringing a steak knife to cut the steak would work better than a Swiss army knife.
It has a gaming mode which is essentially the big picture steam interface and it has a desktop mode which is a fully functional Linux pc. If I wanted my deck to be my plex/immich/file server, I could do so without making a single change to the stock os.
SteamOS is a full fat Linux distro. I use the desktop mode every day
I assume you mean corporate workstations? The EU is currently on that.
Other than that a handful of games and legacy software/hardware.
Exactly. I don't think the comparison is very good here. A better article would say - how to performance tune Windows 11 on a Legion Go S for gaming and compare the results to Steam OS, which is already tuned for gaming. I expect the results would be close enough that the OS choice is less of a concern about performance than what games you want to play and any other uses you might have for the device.