News Windows 7 runs natively on the Steam Deck — desktop OS enthusiast aims to push beyond portrait mode-only limit

[Admin]

Windows 7 can run natively on the Steam Deck, according to testing by operating systems enthusiast Bob Pony.

Windows 7 runs natively on the Steam Deck — desktop OS enthusiast aims to push beyond portrait mode-only limit : Read more

 

[ezst036]

This is fairly interesting. I'd like to see someone put Windows 98 on the Deck.

That said, the effect of the Steam Deck continues to be felt now that Linux is beginning to break the 5% userbase glass ceiling.

Linux use just keeps growing and growing and growing.

 

[John Nemesh]

This is fairly interesting. I'd like to see someone put Windows 98 on the Deck.

That said, the effect of the Steam Deck continues to be felt now that Linux is beginning to break the 5% userbase glass ceiling.

Linux use just keeps growing and growing and growing.

Mainly because Windows 11 keeps getting worse, and worse, and worse!

 

[JeffreyP55]

This is fairly interesting. I'd like to see someone put Windows 98 on the Deck.

That said, the effect of the Steam Deck continues to be felt now that Linux is beginning to break the 5% userbase glass ceiling.

Linux use just keeps growing and growing and growing.

From 1991 to 2025, we hit 5%. Oh yea!

 

[ezst036]

From 1991 to 2025, we hit 5%. Oh yea!

From 1991 to 2015, we hit 1%.
From 2015 to 2021, we hit 2%.
From 2021 to 2023, we hit 3%.
From 2023 to 2024, we hit 4%.
From 2024 to 2025, we hit 5%. That's 2 percent in these 2 years.

The trend is my friend. Oh yea!

 

[USAFRet]

I'd like to see someone put Windows 98 on the Deck.

Having gone through the Win95/98 years....Why?

 

[palladin9479]

Ehh none of the OS's mentioned here are 'retro'. Any program made for Win7, aka NT 6.1, are fully compatible with both Win 10 and Win 11. Win XP is about the latest you can get while being 'retro' due to changes between NT 5 and NT 6, especially regarding older 16 bit libraries.

Honestly there aren't many WinXP programs that won't work on Win 10 or 11.

 

[palladin9479]

Having gone through the Win95/98 years....Why?

Gotta do OS2 😀

 

[JeffreyP55]

From 1991 to 2015, we hit 1%.
From 2015 to 2021, we hit 2%.
From 2021 to 2023, we hit 3%.
From 2023 to 2024, we hit 4%.
From 2024 to 2025, we hit 5%. That's 2 percent in these 2 years.

The trend is my friend. Oh yea!

If the wind keeps blowing in the right direction, you may surpass Apple's 10% market share in a few years. Most people just want to press the go button, not finagle with the OS.

 

[JeffreyP55]

If the wind keeps blowing in the right direction, you may surpass Apple's 10% market share in a few years. Most people just want to press the go button, not finagle with the OS. Been saying for years, Linux still isn't ready for primetime.

 

[TerryLaze]

Ehh none of the OS's mentioned here are 'retro'. Any program made for Win7, aka NT 6.1, are fully compatible with both Win 10 and Win 11. Win XP is about the latest you can get while being 'retro' due to changes between NT 5 and NT 6, especially regarding older 16 bit libraries.

Honestly there aren't many WinXP programs that won't work on Win 10 or 11.

And even more importantly, proton and all this stuff allows you to run apps and games from any windows version right on your modern linux os.

There is no reason to install xp or win98 on the steamdeck you just use lutris and it downloads all the needed old dlls and files that the software needs.

These things are just being done for "fun" ,to see if you can.

 

[ezst036]

If the wind keeps blowing in the right direction, you may surpass Apple's 10% market share in a few years. Most people just want to press the go button, not finagle with the OS. Been saying for years, Linux still isn't ready for primetime.

This isn't the 1990s anymore, all those old slogans and FUD need updating.

That's why Linux popularity is limitless now. Its super easy to use without any necessity for the terminal - any more than Win or Mac. (or regedit, etc tools)

 

[JeffreyP55]

This isn't the 1990s anymore, all those old slogans and FUD need updating.

That's why Linux popularity is limitless now. Its super easy to use without any necessity for the terminal - any more than Win or Mac. (or regedit, etc tools)

I have a recent Ubutu Distro on a NVMe M.2 drive. It has been swapped in and out with Win 10 on a M.2 from my 2014 build. My, It is on it's last wind10 Z97 4790k 1080ti 32Gigs that will be put out to pasture in October. I still am not very excited about Linux. Some do, some don't. Maybe I will give new version of WINE is not an emulator a try... What I use a PC for doesn't require Linux. The past 40+ I have had my share of OS's going back to Unix, DOS Amiga-DOS and whatever else. I have a little history. Do you remember 80 column keypunch machines? LoL I knew them inside and out. I have a few miles on me.

 

[TerryLaze]

I have a recent Ubutu Distro on a NVMe M.2 drive. It has been swapped in and out with Win 10 on a M.2 from my 2014 build. My, It is on it's last wind10 Z97 4790k 1080ti 32Gigs that will be put out to pasture in October. I still am not very excited about Linux. Some do, some don't. Maybe I will give new version of WINE is not an emulator a try... What I use a PC for doesn't require Linux. The past 40+ I have had my share of OS's going back to Unix, DOS Amiga-DOS and whatever else. I have a little history. Do you remember 80 column keypunch machines? LoL I knew them inside and out. I have a few miles on me.

Try bazzite, it has steam, wine, and all the gaming stuff already integrated and it's a immutable distro meaning you can't screw it up by typing the wrong command.

 

[JeffreyP55]

Try bazzite, it has steam, wine, and all the gaming stuff already integrated and it's a immutable distro meaning you can't screw it up by typing the wrong command.

Not a gamer. I have 2 fairly recent AM4 and AM5 builds '22 & late '24. Funny I am not a gamer building gaming PC's. Just a hobby. 70 years old, I have a few hobbies. It helps keep the mind busy. PC's is just one of them.
Maybe I will give the suggested Distro a try. Trying not to have a closed mind, just an old one.

 

[ezst036]

The past 40+ I have had my share of OS's going back to Unix, DOS Amiga-DOS and whatever else. I have a little history. Do you remember 80 column keypunch machines? LoL I knew them inside and out. I have a few miles on me.

I haven't been around quite that long but I do remember the days when people would recommend that even though ATI's first and second generation Radeons were really good, stay away from ATI though because their driver support is the pits. If you remember those days, the 2000s. These driver woes continued on after AMD merged with ATI. (see below)

Not a gamer.

Good, then your use case does not require the 1080ti. That 4790k has onboard Intel HD 4600 graphics I think. Reason is, you should try for 60 some days straight using Linux without any Nvidia card. Nvidia's Linux driver is known to cause random untraceable problems, that you should not waste time trying to track down and fix. It's a return to the good/bad old days of ATI (driver) recommendations. Could happen to any user, any afflicted OS. Its the manufacturer who controls this.

Intel's driver support and also AMD's driver support on Linux is far superior. It's just plug in and go.

I have a recent Ubutu Distro on a NVMe M.2 drive. It has been swapped in and out with Win 10 on a M.2 from my 2014 build. My, It is on it's last wind10 Z97 4790k 1080ti 32Gigs that will be put out to pasture in October. I still am not very excited about Linux.

You might not ever be "excited" about it that isn't the necessary benchmark. I do feel confident that if you give it some time without that Nvidia card installed you will notice a change for the better.

Then come back to the Nvidia card, you should. It is a good quality card, its problem of having a sketchy driver. Just give it ample time and try out all of your use cases for a while using the HD4600.

 

[JeffreyP55]

I haven't been around quite that long but I do remember the days when people would recommend that even though ATI's first and second generation Radeons were really good, stay away from ATI though because their driver support is the pits. If you remember those days, the 2000s. These driver woes continued on after AMD merged with ATI. (see below)


Good, then your use case does not require the 1080ti. That 4790k has onboard Intel HD 4600 graphics I think. Reason is, you should try for 60 some days straight using Linux without any Nvidia card. Nvidia's Linux driver is known to cause random untraceable problems, that you should not waste time trying to track down and fix. It's a return to the good/bad old days of ATI (driver) recommendations. Could happen to any user, any afflicted OS. Its the manufacturer who controls this.

Intel's driver support and also AMD's driver support on Linux is far superior. It's just plug in and go.



You might not ever be "excited" about it that isn't the necessary benchmark. I do feel confident that if you give it some time without that Nvidia card installed you will notice a change for the better.

Then come back to the Nvidia card, you should. It is a good quality card, its problem of having a sketchy driver. Just give it ample time and try out all of your use cases for a while using the HD4600.

I added the 1080ti to the build in 2017. Really overkill for a 4790k. I am familiar with the MS graphics. So, I will be keeping the 1080ti. I don't need to run benchmarks to find a winner. 1080ti actually does limited 4k. It's a keeper with this ancient build.