Valve shares Windows drivers for Steam Machine and says an official dual-boot wizard will ship “once it’s complete”
Much like the Steam Deck before it, Valve’s new Steam Machine runs SteamOS out of the box, giving users a console-like experience while still offering the flexibility of a PC. It boots directly into SteamOS, making it easy to jump into your game library without dealing with a traditional desktop operating system like Windows.
Because the Steam Machine is still a PC, you’re completely free to install alternative operating systems onto it, and some users may prefer Windows – usually because game devs are working on making more Linux-friendly anti-cheats. Whatever your reason, Valve has now made the process much easier by publishing the official drivers needed to get everything working properly.
Windows on the Steam Machine
On its support page, Valve explains that the Steam Machine is a standard PC, meaning users are free to install other operating systems if they choose. To help with that, the company has released a collection of Windows drivers that cover the hardware components most people will need after installation.
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The available downloads include drivers for the graphics processor, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and the SD card reader. Installing these drivers should ensure that the main hardware features function correctly under Windows.
Valve also makes it clear that these resources are provided “as is.” In other words, the company does not provide official technical support for users who decide to run Windows on the Steam Machine. If something goes wrong or users want to return to SteamOS, Valve recommends following its official recovery instructions to restore the device.
There are a few important limitations to keep in mind before making the switch. Installing Windows requires users to completely wipe the Steam Machine, replacing SteamOS with Microsoft’s operating system. Like the Steam Deck, it is indeed possible to dual-boot Windows and SteamOS, but there is no official setup wizard to do this – it will have to be a workaround.
Source: Steam Support
- Installing Windows requires you to wipe your Steam hardware, and dual-boot with SteamOS is not currently available.
- While Steam Deck and Steam Machine are fully capable of dual-boot, the SteamOS installer that provides a dual-boot wizard isn’t ready yet. This will ship alongside SteamOS once it’s complete.
Valve has also shared some installation notes for Windows users. To access the boot menu on the Steam Machine, users need to completely power off the device and then turn it back on while repeatedly pressing the Escape key until the boot menu appears. Since Windows setup requires an internet connection to enter a product key or complete certain setup steps, users will also need to connect the Steam Machine via Ethernet during installation. That’s because Wi-Fi won’t work until the official wireless drivers have been installed afterward.
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