Sometimes I wonder where SteamOS is. The obvious answer is: it's in Steam Deck. But ever since Valve released the original Steam Deck, they have been talking about creating a generic installation that could drop its impressive Arch-based Linux distro onto other non-decky devices. And now, finally, we have our first glimpse of what a generic SteamOS installation is almost upon us. Because the latest beta release (via SteamDeckHQ) had a rather exciting passage: "Added support for extra ROG Ally keys."

I was frustrated because every time SteamOS was released, it was purely tailored for installation on Valve's Steam Deck, and a general installation was always out of reach. However, this is the first time I've seen the patch notes mention that the fixes are specifically for installing the OS on devices from other companies.

For years, there have only been recovery image files for installing SteamOS 3 on other devices, and Valve has stated that this is not SteamOS 3 as a standalone installation, and that if you try to install it on anything other than a Steam Deck, it "may not properly might not work" and "for all the tinkerers out there."

Basically, supporting other gaming devices is... . had not been considered before. For reference, this last section should be read in the voice of Mr. Cinema Trailer.

While previous SteamOS updates have included fixes for third-party peripherals and other things that might connect to the Steam Deck, the added ROG Ally input support is very new and rather welcome. Certainly, this will not be the OS that can finally replace Windows 11 installed on my regular gaming desktop, but it may indicate that a new SteamOS download designed for other portable gaming PCs is on the way. [Because while I've made my peace with Windows on portable gaming consoles when playing with the ROG Ally X or Ayaneo Kun, I'm always a little envious when I pull the Steam Deck OLED out of the drawer and give it another go.

It's an incredibly satisfying experience, and one tailored to portable gaming consoles. That's exactly why SteamOS 3 will hit other handheld gaming PCs before any installation that tries to run a Linux distro on a standard desktop PC with myriad configurations.

When the OLED first came out, I spoke with Lawrence Yang, the Deck designer at Valve, and specifically asked when a standalone installation would be available.

"Oh dear," sighed Yang. But it is the same people running Galileo [Steam Deck OLED] that make SteamOS installations possible in general.

"That said, we hope to make SteamOS more widely available in the near future. We will probably start by making it available for other handhelds that have similar gamepad-style controllers. And further down the road, we will support more arbitrary devices. I think the most important thing is driver support and making it work on any PC. Right now, it's very, very tuned for Steam Deck," he said.

That was last November, and now, nine months later, it feels like that gestation period is finally giving way to the official birth of a version of SteamOS that can be used on another AMD-powered handheld. One can only hope that all devices, not just Allie, will be supported. That said, good luck to anyone hoping for a version that works on a Meteor Lake handheld...

I contacted Valve to see if a more concrete confirmation might be forthcoming.