Valve just released a set of drivers for the Steam Deck that should make installing and using Windows on the new handheld a whole lot easier. They vastly improve performance over the default Windows drivers, however, these Valve drivers haven’t figured out how to make Windows use the Steam Deck’s built-in speakers.
To download these Windows drivers, head to Steam’s support page here. As noted by Rock Paper Shotgun, these drivers are very much a work-in-progress, so there’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t work quite right.
We’ve already mentioned the speaker thing, so you’ll need to use either Bluetooth, USB-C, or the 3.5mm aux jack for your headphones. Dual-boot support is also not there, so installing Windows means no SteamOS and vice-versa. And because you can’t install Valve’s wifi drivers until Windows has completed installation, you’ll need to have the Deck connected to a USB-C hub with an ethernet port to actually activate windows. Oh, and Windows 11 isn’t supported, so you’re stuck on Windows 10.
As Valve loves to remind us, the Deck is a PC, so installing Windows on the Deck is the same as any other PC. Just download Windows installation media on any handy USB drive and follow the on-screen instructions. As noted, you’ll want a physical line to the internet to make the installation as smooth as possible.
Theoretically, installing Windows will get around the issue with certain anti-cheat programs not working on SteamOS, meaning you should be able to play games like Destiny 2 and Halo Infinite. I haven’t seen anyone test it, so keep in mind there’s still a risk that the anti-cheat will detect something off about the Steam Deck’s hardware and ban your game accounts. It might not be worth the risk
Source: The Verge
