I mean, Windows still sucks ass.

I'm pretty sure Big Picture Mode on Desktop Steam proves that you can have a dedicated user experience curated on windows without having to rewrite the OS. Lenovo didn't do anything, they just shipped stock windows and a storefront and assumed it would work out.

If you've used Big Picture Mode, you know 1. It's also available on the Legion Go S and 2. it absolutely does not solve that problem.

Has _anyone_ made a Windows gaming handheld which achieves Steam-level user experience? Seems unfair to blame Lenovo if nobody else can turn Windows from a sow’s ear into a silk purse.

I'm not apologizing for Windows here, but touchscreen has been natively supported since Windows 8, and has functioned way earlier than that.. It also isn't an issue on the ROG Ally, so I think Lenovo needs to work on the driver. Other complaints are 100% fair.

Wow, didn't even go into the quality of the sticks, triggers and buttons. Fine, I guess? Anyone can put the Deck, Legion Go, Switch and even an Xbox controller next to each other to make that comparison. The performance issues are pretty much what I expect from any handheld that tries to push the resolution and refresh rate much farther than the Steam Deck or Switch. You won't get any benefit out of it, just a higher price. Well, it's nice for indie games probably. You could make better use of the screen if you double down on the integrated graphics and make the whole thing like €1200. I'm not big on hardware knowledge but there are more powerful chips out there that fit in a handheld, right? Battery life would probably be terrible.

It's doesn't solve the problem because it wasn't made for the GO. It was made by steam to be a front end for a console like experience on a TV. I'm not saying it solves Lenovo problem, just that steam made a front end over windows that fixes their problem. Lenovo didn't.

Well, maybe if they tried, which Lenovo hasn't. They chose to use barebones windows. They were lazy. I don't know, fuck it, keep blaming windows for everyone else's failures. Whatever.

No, it doesn't solve the problem because there are limitations of the OS that Lenovo can't do anything about. Maybe one day MS will open-source Windows and Lenovo can contribute to it's improvement, but until then...

Or, I don't know, use an already open source OS... Like valve did. Lenovo made a choice, got lazy, and everyone is defending them.

Yeah I will continue to blame the OS vendor for the OS being unfit for purpose.

They are going to offer that in the near future. It will come with it's own compromises. But it sounds like you agree the OS is the problem and not Lenovo.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Micro$oft is more than happy to let companies pay to use their terrible OS for purposes they never built it for. But the question still stands as to why any of these companies continue to try and shove Windows into a use case that was never even a consideration when it was designed. Like, if I had a really terrible hammer, and started trying to use it as a saw... I wouldn't blame the hammer's inherent terribleness at it's intended job for why it failed.

Iant there an official steam OS version for this device...?

Fucking thank you. Finally another reasonable person.

I'm glad they rushed it out without making sure they sent a good product first.

There is supposed to be an eventual release with steamOS, which seems to be very close to being ready. I have the original Legion go, and am running steamOS beta, it's so lovely, highly recommended.

Do you think eventually they'll get an official build for ROG Ally?

Here's what I expect: as steamOS continues development and support, it will be available on more and more machines. I'm betting ROG ally will be towards the front of the line.