Valve Confirms SteamOS is Coming to ASUS ROG Ally, Other 3rd Party Handheld Devices

[AleksandarK]

According to The Verge, Valve confirmed its intention to extend support for its Linux-based SteamOS to rival gaming handhelds, including the ASUS ROG Ally. This move marks a significant step towards realizing Valve's decade-old vision of a widespread "Steam Machine" ecosystem. Lawrence Yang, a designer at Valve, confirmed to The Verge that the company is actively working on adding support for additional handhelds to SteamOS. This revelation came after eagle-eyed observers spotted a curious line in Valve's latest SteamOS 3.6.9 Beta release notes mentioning the addition of "support for extra ROG Ally keys." While the development is still in progress, Yang emphasized that SteamOS isn't quite ready for out-of-the-box use on rival devices. However, he assured that the team is making "steady progress" towards this goal.

This initiative doesn't necessarily mean that manufacturers like ASUS will officially endorse Valve's installer or ship their devices with SteamOS preinstalled. Many companies, including ASUS, have cited various reasons for sticking with Windows, including Microsoft's dedicated validation teams that ensure compatibility across diverse hardware configurations. Other devices, such as Lenovo Legion Go, AYANEO, and GPD Pocket 4, ship with Windows, but it could be interesting to see with SteamOS. Alongside support for third-party handhelds, Valve is also working on a general release of SteamOS 3 for non-handheld PCs. Finally, Valve hasn't forgotten about its promise to enable dual-booting on Steam Deck devices. While there's no specific timeline, Mr. Yang confirmed that it remains a priority for the company. We remain to see how this will materialize, and with added bells and whistles to SteamOS, the adoption of Linux-based gaming could be pushed even further.



View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Dragokar]

This is a great news for every handheld user.

 

[Ferrum Master]

Thank you Lord Gaben.

 

[KrazyT]

This is a great news for every handheld user.

Valve is also working on a general release of SteamOS 3 for non-handheld PCs.

And a big hope for everybody else !

 

[ffolekram]

Can we presume, Gabe's ambition is to extend SteamOS into PC OS?

 

[Ferrum Master]

Can we presume, Gabe's ambition is to extend SteamOS into PC OS?

Lord Gaben team of coders has taken care of many things and patches they do will be available pretty much to any Linux distro, not limiting yourself to specific OS.

As father Torvalds predicted 10 years ago.

 

[Chrispy_]

Yay!

Windows is a terrible OS for these devices, and nothing has come of Microsoft's early prototype for a stripped-down, game-focused UI for W11 from 18 months ago. As always, Microsoft are all noise and no action.

 

[Neo_Morpheus]

They should’ve done that from the get go, but at least it’s happening.

Praise Lord GabeN!

 

[Vayra86]

Steamos without capital kinda makes me envision a hot-tub-based Greek God. Probably looks like Gaben in a hot tub.

Glad I could contribute to this topic

Can we presume, Gabe's ambition is to extend SteamOS into PC OS?

And shortly after that, world domination.

 

[lexluthermiester]

What we're not reading is SteamOS being officially released for ALL PC's... Just throwing it out there.

 

[Gooigi's Ex]

This is a great news for every handheld user.

Ehhhh not really but great for the Steam Deck community.

 

[Dragokar]

Ehhhh not really but great for the Steam Deck community.

Why is it not great for the other handheld users and only for the Steam Deck Com?

 

[blueturtle]

Im sure Gabe had very little to do with such a smart decision....

 

[Solaris17]

Im sure Gabe had very little to do with such a smart decision....

Gabe doesnt answer to a board and has been steering the company just fine for like... decades.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Gabe doesnt answer to a board and has been steering the company just fine for like... decades.

True, for better or for worse. In all fairness, a lot of good.