If Microsoft wants to stand a chance against SteamOS in the portable console arena, it's going to have to pull out all the stops. Because on these devices, Valve's Linux-based operating system runs Windows games more efficiently than Windows itself! This is the conclusion—quite logical, after all—reached by YouTuber Dave2D, who got his hands on a Legion Go S equipped with both OSes.
SteamOS beats Windows on its own turf
Lenovo launched the Windows version of its new portable console a few weeks ago, priced at €630. It's equipped with a Z2 Go chip, 16GB of RAM, and an 8-inch 120Hz screen. The SteamOS version should be coming soon, with the same components and technical specifications, and a price that should be around €500. The price difference is explained by the cost of the Windows license.
But that's not the only difference between these two consoles. It turns out that games running on SteamOS run much better than their Windows counterparts! Performance gains in terms of FPS are 5 to 10% with low/medium settings, as Dave2D was able to observe.
Better yet, the battery life of the Legion Go S under SteamOS is superior, and sometimes even much superior, to the Windows version. The first one lasts 1 hour 54 minutes with Cyberpunk 2077, which is 23 minutes longer than the second one. The difference becomes a chasm with less demanding games like Hades (4h17 on SteamOS, compared to 1h58 on Windows) and Dead Cells (6h12 compared to 2h47).
Remember that on SteamOS, Windows games run using Proton, a layer of compatibility developed by Valve to run on Linux. You would have thought they would run better on their original system... And it's not just about pure performance or battery life, the experience itself is better with SteamOS, which supports pause and standby much better.
It's no surprise that Windows is very poorly suited to portable consoles. The system runs applications in the background that have no interest for this type of device, which reduces battery life. The OS interface is absolutely not designed for these small screens. It's a far cry from the "console" experience provided by a Steam Deck or, here, the Legion Go S under SteamOS.
The good news is that Microsoft is working on optimizing Windows for portable consoles. Better still, the publisher intends to combine the OS with the Xbox app to offer an interface and operation closer to a traditional console. It's also rumored that Microsoft is building bridges with Steam and the Epic Games Store to allow access to games from these stores directly from the Xbox app.
We should know everything by the launch of the first "portable Xbox" that Asus is working on and which will be released, if all goes well, later this year. We shouldn't delay, because SteamOS can now be installed on consoles other than the Steam Deck...
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