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I'm not using my Nintendo Switch anymore. Most games I want to play are simply not available for it, and I can't see myself buying a Switch 2 for the few that are available on the new console. It's sad because I really like its form factor, and I still prefer video game consoles over PC gaming. After a long day of work on a PC, I don't have the energy or the time to "maintain" yet another computer to relax and play some games.

So, I bought a Steam Deck.

I'd like to note that the first PC I bought was a "Steam Machine", as described in my blog post from 10 years ago. The situation was similar to this one: I want to play games from my backlog of PC games, but I want a "console-like" experience. This Alienware Alpha machine was poor at both. It was an XBMC frontend to Windows 8 using an Xbox 360 controller connected wirelessly using a dongle. There was an option to use Steam OS, but it was still in its infancy, supporting only games that were rebuilt to its Linux environment.

A lot has happened to Steam OS since. The venerable Wine Windows API compatibility layer vastly improved since, and Steam OS packaged that and a new DirectX 11 compatible library for Linux under the name Proton. While not all Windows games work with Proton, a now substantial number do, as mentioned on the Steam store or in the site ProtonDB. ProtonTricks, an enhanced version of Winetrics made for Proton, and tools like Lutris make it easy to install Windows games from other stores like GoG. For cloud gaming, it does support Xbox cloud gaming (see "Xbox Cloud Gaming in Microsoft Edge with Steam Deck") and GeForce NOW (see "How do I install GeForce NOW on Steam Deck?").

Steam OS has one of the best packaging of Linux for a game console that I've seen. The code OS is stored on a read-only file system (well, writeable only for system updates). All additional tools and software and installed "user-space" in your writeable home directory file system, be it in the form of Linux self-executables, or the well-supported Flatpak format. This makes it very easy to apply software updates safely, without the risk of a customization breaking the entire machine. There is a desktop mode using KDE Plasma, and with Steam running in the background the controller can be used as a mouse or display an on-screen keyboard, while also supporting Steam Link as a form or remote desktop client. It strikes an excellent balance between a console-like experience and a stable yet modern Linux environment. In fact, if connected to a screen, mouse and keyboard using USB-C docks, it could serve as a quite pleasant and well-supported Linux PC.

As for the hardware itself, it's quite good, though at this point its performance is slower than newer portable consoles and PCs of similar form factors. Its controller is superb and may be the best controller for a portable console I've ever used. Steam allows for an insane amount of controller customization and combined with its dual trackpads it plays surprisingly well most PC games designed for a mouse and keyboard. I had a few surprises that were barely mentioned, for example that its screen is touch screen, or that the joysticks support detecting if you're merely touching them.

Its official dock mimics well the experience of the Switch's dock. A Bluetooth controller can wake the console, sending the HDMI CEC signal to start the TV. Steam's "big screen" experience truly feels like a typical game console experience. For games that, as I mentioned, were made for keyboard and mouse, you can still customize your external controller for mouse controls, including the PS4 and PS5 trackpad or for controllers that have a gyroscope.

Published on February 22, 2026 at 14:00 EST

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