It's been months since we first learned that SteamOS will no longer be exclusive to the Steam Deck. Instead, Valve plans to extend SteamOS support to other third-party handhelds. Since that announcement, we've seen several updates, including news about the first-ever non-Valve handheld featuring SteamOS—the Lenovo Legion Go S—which is set to hit shelves in May. Additionally, developments are underway to port SteamOS to the ASUS ROG Ally and ROG Ally X, though an exact release date remains unknown.

Valve's goal is to bring SteamOS not only to third-party handhelds but to a wide range of gaming systems, as gamers “cannot take Windows anymore” and seek a more streamlined, bloat-free operating system designed specifically for gaming needs. While further details about this broader release are yet to come, as Valve still needs to address a few hurdles, third-party handheld owners can get a taste of SteamOS through SteamFork.

SteamOS on ASUS, Antec, Atari, Ayaneo devices

SteamFork is an operating system based on SteamOS, designed to deliver an experience as close as possible to SteamOS on a Steam Deck. What's interesting about SteamFork is its support for a wide range of devices from popular manufacturers, including the ASUS ROG Ally and ROG Ally X. Derived from SteamOS 3.6, it is currently the only active community distribution built directly from SteamOS repositories.

Features

Works on a variety of devices from ASUS, Antec, Atari, Ayaneo, Ayn, and GPD along with MiniPCs and other computers with compatible hardware.
Provides a full SteamOS UI/UX experience, including SteamOS’s desktop mode.
SteamFork is an atomic distribution with simple rollback and recovery options.
SteamOS is our upstream, making SteamFork the only active Linux gaming solution truly derived from SteamOS.
Minimal changes are made to SteamOS to preserve compatibility with Steam Deck plugins, software, and documentation.
RGB is off by default on supported devices, RGB will flash on low battery when available.
Offers improved fan curves on supported devices from Ayaneo and Ayn.
Includes power management optimizations ported from JustEnoughLinuxOS.
Supports booting from removable media such as usb drives and micro sd cards (64GB minimum) and dual boot with Windows.
Compatible with Epic Games Store, GoG, and Amazon Prime Gaming via Heroic which is available for installation in discover.

SteamFork, Github

In addition to the officially supported devices, the developers claim that SteamFork also works well on modern laptops, desktops, and mini PCs with Intel and AMD processors and graphics. However, devices without sponsors are not actively tested by dedicated maintainers, which may lead to unknown issues. We highly recommend visiting SteamFork's official GitHub page, which provides installation procedures, source information, and screenshots to help you get familiar with everything.

Previous

Next

1 of 2

Previous

Next

Why choose SteamFork over Bazzite

For those unfamiliar with Linux-based operating systems, Bazzite is another alternative aimed at replicating the SteamOS experience. The key difference between SteamFork and Bazzite is that the latter isn't entirely based on SteamOS but instead incorporates only the best aspects of it. In contrast, SteamFork is built on SteamOS from the ground up, meaning it includes not only the strengths of SteamOS but also its flaws. According to the developers:

Our goal is to port SteamOS to multiple devices. Many users simply want the vanilla Steam Deck experience on other devices, and we offer that for them. 

SteamFork Developers

However, as it's still in its early stages, SteamFork currently lacks support for Nvidia GPUs and the Lenovo Legion Go. That said, the developers actively encourage users to join their Discord server and contribute to testing and development to expand support for non-sponsored devices. Interestingly, a Legion Go user has already started collaborating with the team to test SteamFork on their device. SteamFork is an excellent choice for those who want the full SteamOS experience on their handhelds. For ASUS ROG Ally owners, it offers a great way to get SteamOS while waiting for the official support to launch.

About the Author

Hassam Nasir

Hassam boasts over seven years of professional experience as a dedicated PC hardware reviewer and writer.