Valve has officially prepped and authorised the first third-party installation for an upcoming gaming handheld device that hasn’t been made by the company. According to the latest build of SteamOS preview 3.7.5, the Lenovo Legion Go S will be the first non-Valve handheld to support SteamOS.
While there are ways to get SteamOS installed on current handhelds, these methods weren’t “official” by any means. Valve didn’t mind you doing it, but they required repackaged versions of the gaming OS while, at the same time, often came with compatibility issues across certain devices.
Valve has been quite transparent in the past when it comes to SteamOS. The company has stated that it wants the operating system to be seen as the go-to for PC gaming in general. This means opening up support for other brands to install SteamOS on their hardware even before the devices ship out for sale.
The Lenovo Legion Go S will be sold in both a Windows and SteamOS version. I am not sure if you’ll be able to get the Windows version and install SteamOS later down the line or vice versa, but I can’t see why not. The best part about this device is that Valve has made sure to include drivers and support for its hardware. So it will include functioning trackpads and features.
I don’t know when we’ll see the Lenovo Legion Go S in South Africa. If anything, Lenovo’s local PR is a circus, and we never really know what the brand is doing and what tech it is working on. The previous Legion Go just popped up in retailers across the country without any announcement or marketing. So if you just happen to walk into Incredible Connection one day and see it, don’t be surprised.
We will likely see other handhelds follow the SteamOS route this year. We know ASUS is working on a new ROG Ally successor, but at the moment, it is too early to tell if it will officially support SteamOS right out of the gate.
Valve slowly wants to offer SteamOS as a way for gamers to have a hassle-free experience on their PCs and handhelds. So much so that it plans to release a dedicated desktop client that users can opt to install on their PCs instead of Windows. Of course, that comes with various challenges, including drivers, compatibility, and third-party installers.
Source: Valve
