Windows 11 officially arrives with Steam Deck update – but is it worth installing?

techradar.com:

Windows 11 has officially arrived for the Steam Deck, with the ability to install Microsoft’s OS being wrapped up in a fresh update for Valve’s handheld gaming PC.

Previously, Windows 11 support had only been in testing, and therefore the operating system could only be installed by those running the beta version of SteamOS.

However, in the latest SteamOS update, Valve has made things official – via the introduction of support for fTPM (enabling firmware TPM on the Deck’s AMD CPU, which is a requirement for Windows 11) – meaning any Steam Deck owner can now install Microsoft’s operating system on their handheld, not just those running the beta.

Another important improvement which has progressed from beta to the full release is bolstering battery life in “idle or very low usage scenarios”, so that’s good to see. There’s another tweak in the name of battery longevity, too, which is an experimental Half-Rate Shading option (in the Quick Access menu, under Performance) which “forces 2x2 Variable Rate Shading into existing games for power savings”.

Check here for the full list of changes, and don’t forget as we’ve seen elsewhere, Valve has made a welcome introduction in the form of a lock screen for the Steam Deck, as well as some other client tweaks.

Those include a much-improved design for the Achievements page, and support for switching between active windows after tapping the Steam button (that’s particularly handy for those using game launchers).

This should mean that Windows 11 support is fully ironed out now for the Steam Deck – but of course, only time will tell. It’s hopefully a good sign that it didn’t take long for support to move from the beta channel to the full release of SteamOS (as the capability only hit beta just