What you need to know
- An updated APU driver is now available for Steam Deck running Windows.
- The driver improves the security, stability, and performance of Windows on Steam Deck.
- Installing Windows on Steam Deck requires you to wipe the device and dual booting is not officially supported at this time.
Steam Deck users that prefer to run Windows on the handheld have a new driver to install. A new APU driver recently rolled out that improves compatibility, security, stability, and performance when running Windows on Steam Deck. The driver can be downloaded directly through Steam's website alongside other drivers for the device.
The Steam Deck Twitter account shared the news and outlined the changes.
It is possible to install Windows on a Steam Deck, but it takes a bit of work and technical knowledge. Many prefer to have their Steam Deck run its built-in operating system (Linux) because running Windows can cause compatibility and performance issues.
If you don't want to go through the process of getting Windows onto a Steam Deck, you can stream games through Xbox Cloud Gaming. In addition to avoiding the hassle of swapping your Steam Deck to Windows, Xbox Cloud Gaming runs within a browser. As a result, you can have the Steam Deck's built-in operating system for native titles and Xbox Cloud Gaming for streaming other content.
Notably, the Steam Deck does not officially support dual booting with SteamOS at this time. That functionality will ship with SteamOS 3.
