Steam Deck OS on ROG Ally spells doom for Windows handhelds

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After years of developing the Proton translation layer, Valve cleverly used its own SteamOS Linux fork for its Steam Deck handheld. While competitors like the ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion GO have released with better compatibility for some games, new Linux fork Bazzite brings a SteamOS-like experience to other handhelds, and proves Windows sucks for handheld devices. 

Steam Deck competitors can finally escape Windows 

Bazzite aims to bring a seamless Steam Deck solution to handhelds such as the ROG Ally, devices that boast more powerful insides than Valve’s device but are kneecapped by the demands of Windows 11. 

A new video by Digital Foundry shows that games actually run better via the Proton translation layer on Bazzite than via traditional Windows. While Bazzite does have some bugs–such as finicky VRR playback–the Linux platform manages to improve performance on games natively running on Windows. 

As the video explains, “shader compilation stutters” in games like Final Fantasy 7 Remake do not occur on Bazzite. These stutters lead to massive lurches and freezes in gameplay, usually on Unreal Engine games, do not have any issues on Bazzite. 

However, some games do run slightly worse than their Windows counterparts. Framerates can be a few FPS slower than running on Windows, but performance still climbs above that of Valve’s Steam Deck. 

Windows needs to fix this 

Outside of the video, PC gaming expert and Digital Foundry analyst Alex Battalgia commented on the “pathetic” nature of Windows in the current era. As one of the strongest voices against the rise of shader stutter on Windows gaming, the games performance analyst spoke out against the current state of Microsoft’s OS. 

“DX12 and Windows’ default state is to leave competent shader compilation to devs, who regularly fail to do it as well as they should,” Battalgia explained. “That means games on PC can be hitchy jittery messes. Microsoft and the DX team need to embrace the reality and have a mitigation strategy.”

The games analyst explaiend that Windows needs to work to offer gamers a better solution on its platform, noting that Microsoft needs to “fix” the “pathetic” state of its gaming runtimes. After all, if a small team making their own Linux fork can do it, why can’t Microsoft?

“Bazzite avoids shader compilation stutter due to Vulkan Shader Playback from Valve’s Fossilize,” the analyst explained. “Why on earth is there not a Microsoft made equivalent in the Windows/DX12 environment? 10 years of DX12 and its default experience without hefty dev work ‘runs like junk’”.

With a Steam Deck 2 still years away and Valve swearing off small upgrades for their machine, Bazzite may become the go-to OS for new handhelds. While Windows still does offer minor performance benefits and compatibility with more games, it’s still siphoning performance in other areas. 

For more Steam Deck news, find out how Bloober Team has improved Silent Hill 2 on the handheld or how Diablo 4 performance has been ruined by a recent update.

About the Author

Lewis White

Lewis White is a veteran games journalist with a decade of experience writing news, reviews, features and investigative pieces about game development with a focus on Halo and Xbox.