Ars Technica's recent tests reveal that SteamOS 3.7 significantly outperforms Windows 11 on the Lenovo Legion Go S, a handheld device that accommodates both operating systems. The device initially ran SteamOS before researchers added Windows 11 and the required drivers.
Performance and Compatibility
While Lenovo's official drivers fell short, insufficiently supporting some games like Doom: The Dark Ages, Asus ROG Ally drivers proved to be more effective. In terms of gaming performance, SteamOS showed markedly better results in three out of five tested games.
- SteamOS outperformed Windows 11 by up to 17 fps (56%) in the top cases.
- Cyberpunk 2077 performance rose from 44.6 fps on Windows to 52.4 fps on SteamOS, a 17% increase.
- Borderlands 3 showed a negligible ~1% fps advantage on Windows.
The consistent edge in gaming performance for SteamOS can be attributed to the effective optimization of Valve's Proton layer, which allows Windows-native games to run more smoothly on this operating system.
Implications for Future Developments
This demonstration of SteamOS's capabilities is crucial for gaming enthusiasts and developers who prioritize performance. The debloated architecture of SteamOS minimizes system overhead, a likely factor in its superior results compared to Windows 11.
With Windows making gradual optimizations, including deferring nonessential tasks to enhance performance in power-limited scenarios, this performance gap might decrease over time. Nonetheless, SteamOS’s current advancements present a significant competitive signal in the gaming OS landscape.
