Last month, Valve released an update for SteamOS to bring official Windows 11 support for the Steam Deck. Still, Windows on the handheld console from Valve suffered from poor support and missed some key components, such as audio drivers. Valve has finally fixed this problem by releasing official audio drivers for Windows on the Steam Deck.
The release of official audio drivers for the Steam Deck means those tinkering with Windows on their consoles can now use built-in speakers and the audio jack. Previously, the only audio output on the Steam Deck with Windows was Bluetooth.
Although the Steam Deck now has all the needed drivers to run Windows 11 and 10 like any computer, replacing SteamOS is not perfect or user-friendly. The Steam Deck does not officially support dual-boot, so you need to wipe the console"s drive before installing Windows. That is something Valve is working on, and the company promises to fix it with the release of SteamOS 3 in the future.
Not every Steam Deck user cares about swapping SteamOS with Windows, so Valve is naturally more interested in improving SteamOS (the company recently added the option to change the refresh rate per game). The company wants its console to be flexible and experiment-friendly, but it will take time to fix all the needed parts.
You can download the latest Windows drivers for the Steam deck from the official Steam Support website.
Some Steam Deck owners go beyond just replacing SteamOS with Windows. Recently, a YouTuber decided to see what happens when you connect a flagship GPU to the Steam Deck.