From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.advocacy

Quite a comprehensive overview <https://www.theverge.com/games/949010/best-handheld-gaming-pc> of the
range of products available for handheld PC gaming. That is, devices
for playing Windows games, not console games. (Sorry, Mac fans ...)
After giving a TL;DR summary, and before going over the full list, the
author says

But before I go down the list, let’s talk Windows and Linux.

While I’ve dinged many of the handhelds I’ve reviewed for The
Verge for Windows woes, that’s not as big a deal today — because
you can install Bazzite or even SteamOS on many of them for a
better pick-up-and-play experience. The same exact handheld is
often more stable and performant with Linux, and you often get
instant sleep and resume that’s hit or miss on the operating
system it shipped with.

It’s still true that many competitive online multiplayer games
don’t work on Linux because of anti-cheat fears, though others do.
It’s also true that Windows has gotten better at sleep and resume
with certain handhelds like the Xbox Ally X. But it’s a
misconception that Linux can’t play as many games as Windows. The
reality is that Linux can play *more* — decades of Windows games
work better on Linux thanks to Proton patches and community
profiles that translate old mouse and keyboard controls to your
gamepad.

Did you see what he said there? Windows is less of a problem than it
used to be, because you can get rid of it! And it becomes more clear
as you look down the list, that a big factor in the product ratings is
being able to dump the preinstalled Windows OS to put on Bazzite or
SteamOS.
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.advocacy

On 2026-06-17 10:25 p.m., Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:

Quite a comprehensive overview <https://www.theverge.com/games/949010/best-handheld-gaming-pc> of the
range of products available for handheld PC gaming. That is, devices
for playing Windows games, not console games. (Sorry, Mac fans ...)
After giving a TL;DR summary, and before going over the full list, the
author says

But before I go down the list, let’s talk Windows and Linux.

While I’ve dinged many of the handhelds I’ve reviewed for The
Verge for Windows woes, that’s not as big a deal today — because
you can install Bazzite or even SteamOS on many of them for a
better pick-up-and-play experience. The same exact handheld is
often more stable and performant with Linux, and you often get
instant sleep and resume that’s hit or miss on the operating
system it shipped with.

It’s still true that many competitive online multiplayer games
don’t work on Linux because of anti-cheat fears, though others do.
It’s also true that Windows has gotten better at sleep and resume
with certain handhelds like the Xbox Ally X. But it’s a
misconception that Linux can’t play as many games as Windows. The
reality is that Linux can play *more* — decades of Windows games
work better on Linux thanks to Proton patches and community
profiles that translate old mouse and keyboard controls to your
gamepad.

Did you see what he said there? Windows is less of a problem than it
used to be, because you can get rid of it! And it becomes more clear
as you look down the list, that a big factor in the product ratings is
being able to dump the preinstalled Windows OS to put on Bazzite or
SteamOS.

That last part is definitely true. It mentions that because of Proton,
more decades of Windows games are playable in Linux. If you are
interested in playing Freedom Force, a game from the beginning of the
century, you'll notice that it won't work in Windows no matter what you
do. If it does execute, it will be very broken. With Proton within
Linux, it loads as though it was meant for the platform.
--
CrudeSausage
M4 MacBook Air
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