Windows 7 runs natively on the Steam Deck, but only in portrait mode — desktop OS enthusiast aims to push beyond strange limitation in otherwise straightforward process

Windows 7 can run natively on the Steam Deck, according to operating systems enthusiast Bob Pony on Twitter/X. Why this is something that needed to be done is another question. The answer, which many readers may sympathize with, is likely just because it can be done. We note that Pony has a particular penchant for Windows Vista, so perhaps we should prepare for that Steam Deck + unlikely OS announcement next.

Windows 7 (2009) and the Steam Deck (2022) are divided by an approximate 13-year gulf, so it isn’t surprising that they aren’t the most comfortable bedfellows. Immediate evidence of technical difficulties in this marriage is evident in Pony’s screenshot – the Windows 7 display is stuck in an inappropriate portrait mode.

Pony reveals some more details about the Windows 7-on-Steam Deck feat in the ensuing discussion. Apparently, there are few, if any, issues running this OS on the CPU portion of AMD’s Van Gogh APU. However, “the drivers won't install under Windows 7 as its integrated graphics is basically custom-made and drivers for it only work under 10/11,” the equine OS enthusiast explains.

Other replies in the thread ask for Windows XP and even the peculiar by any metric Temple OS to be tested out next. But we think any further steps down the Windows OS ladder will take some time. It is hardly satisfactory if Windows 7 can’t even be tweaked into landscape mode yet…

Pony shared a video demonstrating Windows 8.1 on the Steam Deck two years ago. The Metro-skinned OS ran pretty well, with full touch functionality. If this cadence is to be maintained, any Vista on Steam Deck achievement won’t be shared until 2027.

Windows 10 will be retro soon

Both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 are firmly in the retro computing niche in 2025, and are soon to be joined by Windows 10 – bar a few stalwarts who feel compelled to pay an Extended Security Updates (ESU) fee instead of just shifting up to Windows 11 or finally contribute to making 2025 the breakthrough year for Linux on desktop.

Hopefully, SteamOS will officially come to desktops at the same time as Windows 10 says its farewells. It would be a canny move by Valve to introduce it a little earlier.

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