A relative success Steam Deck It surprised many people, but above all it served to attract the general public to the mini-PC sector in the form of a hybrid console. Despite the fact that it is a standard Windows PC, the Valve device uses SteamOS 3 as its operating system, a derivative of the popular Arch Linux distribution, but it is tuned for ordinary users and has immutability properties to prevent tampering with the system.

One of the main factors that make Steam Deck a leader in its sector is the operating system, in addition to its utility. Not because of the novelty, but because it uses less resources than Windows. This has allowed it to outperform most of its competitors, at least for now, but that could be numbered with the latest leaks from Microsoft suggesting that the Redmond giant is experimenting with Windows prototypes with a user interface optimized for such devices.

The existence of a Windows 11 prototype adapted for a mini-PC with a hybrid console format was revealed through a leaked video as part of the project. hackathon which Microsoft would have launched last September. Hackathon projects consist of ideas or projects submitted by the employees themselves, which eventually get the support of senior management to begin their development.

Valve isn’t averse to installing Windows on Steam Deck, and what’s more, they even offer the necessary drivers to make Microsoft’s operating system work. However, forward the challenge of adapting the interface and Windows support to the device’s controlsas the current interface, at least for now, makes it difficult to navigate with touch controls and a controller, plus it lacks a launcher like the one SteamOS 3 has.

A hybrid console version of Windows 11 mini-PC would not only customize the user interface, but also provide an easy way to open clients for Steam, Epic Games Store, Game Pass, EA Play and more. Other aspects that would include a Steam Deck-optimized keyboard that can be used with a controller and a floating taskbar.

While developing an alternative to SteamOS 3 by customizing the Windows 11 interface, Microsoft made it possible to access the Xbox cloud using the Edge web browser with a Linux-based system. Adapting the Windows 11 interface is just one of the legs Microsoft needs to sharpen to compete with SteamOS 3, but most users may be satisfied with seeing more compatibility at the application level.

Another aspect to consider is that applications, especially video game platform clients, must be adapted to work properly on this possible modified Windows 11 (in Steam, the work is assumed to be done, unless there is talk of integration in the Windows interface itself).

Steam Deck and SteamOS 3, worthless platform

Valve popularized an interesting concept with the Steam Deck, but the device, despite using its own operating system, has a major problem: a lack of value as a platform.

The company behind Steam introduced Proton, a fork of Wine, as the standard way to feed your mini-PC with games, so it’s primarily dedicated to running games compiled for Windows and lacks exclusives.. As a result, the least Microsoft can do is sweep SteamOS, forcing Valve to adopt Windows as a system if it doesn’t want to lose weight against other competitors already in the market.

We’ll see how the hybrid console-oriented mini-PC Windows 11 prototype evolves, eventually becoming a commercialized product. Despite Microsoft’s patchy track record with operating system development, on paper it has the wherewithal to achieve its goal.