The Steam Deck can run Windows instead of the default SteamOS, as you’re likely aware, and freshly released drivers for those who’ve installed Microsoft’s OS on their handheld have fixed issues with playing Halo Infinite.
PC Gamer spotted that there are new Windows drivers for the Steam Deck available for download, and that the new APU driver resolves the problems that meant Halo Infinite had stopped working (it crashed when trying to run the game).
Some other games which the previous version of the APU driver also threw spanners in the works for are now cured of those issues, too.
It’s also worth noting that the audio driver for Windows was updated, as well, a few days beforehand, again to fix up some bugs. Going by feedback online, one of those glitches was that only the left speaker worked following a cold boot of the Steam Deck, and this is now a thing of the past thanks to the overhauled audio driver.
In other Steam Deck game news, it’s also good to hear that Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade, which just became available on Steam today, is a ‘Verified’ title for Valve’s handheld (as flagged by PC GamesN).
Analysis: Roll on dual booting…
Halo Infinite doesn’t work on the default OS for the Steam Deck (namely SteamOS) because of its anti-cheat feature. Naturally, in Windows 11 (or Windows 10), you’re fine on this front (or you were until a recent APU driver messed up things, with the remedy for that now in place in this latest version, of course).
Turning to Windows for greater compatibility with big-name games that have anti-cheat like Halo Infinite is one solution, but it comes with a whole bunch of caveats. You have to ditch SteamOS, and all its streamlined user-friendliness, and switching over to Windows on the Deck is not a trivial exercise, and not something the less tech-savvy will likely be doing. (For those interested in going this route, though, we have a full guide on how to install Windows 10 and 11 on a Steam Deck).
The good news is that getting the best of both worlds will eventually be possible, as the Steam Deck is a PC that’s fully capable of being configured to dual boot and allow you to choose between two operating systems. It’s just that Valve needs to bring support to the SteamOS installer in the form of a dual boot wizard, and that’s incoming, but there’s no specific timeframe yet.
It’s not going to be the biggest priority for Valve, but when done, this will be a great extra ability to have for Steam Deck owners seeking additional options for running more games on the device.
