SteamOS beta could be available to download to your handheld gaming PC of choice as soon as April

HardwareHandheld Gaming PCsSteamOS beta could be available to download to your handheld gaming PC of choice as soon as AprilWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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Steam Deck�s loading throbber

With the announcement of theLenovo Legion Go S handheld gaming PC, the gears are well and truly turning. Revealed to be the first officially licensed third-party device to be running Valve’s Linux-based OS, we finally have more details about what to expect from the future of SteamOS—chiefly, Valve is opening the floodgates.

In a recentnews post, Valve announced that SteamOS will expand “beyond Steam Deck,” with a beta version of the operating system becoming available for users to download ahead of Lenovo’s handheld shipping. Considering the Legion Go S is slated for a May release, that beta could be even closer than we think. At any rate,it’s been a long time coming.

We got an inkling more recently that SteamOS was in reach for non-Deck handheldsback in Augustwhen support for the ROG Ally handheld’s keys was detailed in a Beta update. Refined wording ofSteamOS' brand guidelines a few months laterstrengthened the theory—turns out we weren’t just blowing smoke!

Furthermore, SteamOS' desktop mode on Valve’s own handheld affords plenty of room to tinker and customise your device. This means that even on the Steam Deck itself, you’re not locked into only playing on Steam and can install competitor clients to your heart’s content. For another example, downloads over desktop mode were also how many turned their Steam Decks into stream decks—inelegantly to begin with, though dedicated apps likeNvidia’s GeForce Now make game streaming even breezier.

For these reasonsand more, we still rate Valve’s original handheld. But with theSteam Deck 2 still a ways off, it certainly doesn’t hurt to see a few more SteamOS-compatible options on the horizon.

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