Valve Steam Deck is set to begin shipping this December. And while we already know that the new handheld console can run on Windows, not much is known on how compatibility might fare with the more onerous Windows 11. Well, it seems that Valve and AMD are working to ensure things run smoothly out of the box.
In a recent interview with PC Gamer, Valve Steam Deck designer Greg Coomer confirmed that the company is collaborating with AMD in order to make sure its handheld console runs Windows 11 out of the box.
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Coomer mentioned that Steam is looking into the possibility of having the handheld's Trusted Compatibility Module (TPM) be compatible with Windows 11.
"There's work looking at TPM just now; We've focused so much on Windows 10, so far, that we haven't really gotten that far into it. Our expectation is that we can meet that," Coomer said.
A TPM is usually a hardcoded cryptographic key that usually sit on motherboards as a separate chip. This will give Windows 11 an added layer of security. Modern CPUs do often meet Microsoft's TPM 2.0 requirement for Windows 11.
Valve's Steam Deck will be powered by AMD, specifically a custom chip titled Zen 2/RDNA 2 APU. So it makes sense that the company is working with the silicon-maker directly to ensure that its new handheld console is Windows 11-ready.
"It's also a conversation that's going on with AMD; to make sure that, at the BIOS level, we can accommodate that. So there's nothing to indicate to us yet that there'll be any issues with Windows 11."
This news could be a big deal for those who are considering using the Steam Deck as their primary desktop. Building a new PC has been made tremendously more difficult thanks to the ongoing global chip shortage and scalpers artificially inflating component prices. So far, Valve has set out an ambitious target, "for every game to work by the time we ship Steam Deck," per Valve software developer Eric Lieberman in a developer video.
As of right now, it's impossible to say whether Valve's new handheld console will be able to beat, or at least match, the userbase of the Nintendo Switch. Nintendo's handheld-console hybrid has already outsold the PS3 and Xbox 360. From what we know, the Steam Deck is set to ship this December for early buyers, starting at $399. It will feature a 7-inch 1280x800 LCD Display and internal storage of up to 512 GB. It was also run on its own Linux-based operating system called SteamOS. If you're curious to read more about the console, head over to our main Valve Steam Deck page for more guidance.
