It's not so much about browsing on steam decks. It's about the technical improvements Valve has brought to Linux gaming compatibility that has now made full Linux conversion without a Windows dual-boot for gaming (and many other Windows programs) a true reality. Once people don't have to reboot every time they want to start a game they'll stay in Linux full time.
I think SteamOS might help a bit, but the driving factor might be that Microsoft decided to ditch much of good hardware on their upgrade path to Windows 11.
Yeah my current PC is only just starting to hit it's (gaming) limits now, still plenty strong for literally any other purpose, but yeah no I'll just build a whole new PC just so I can be forced into an OS I don't want when they stop supporting the one I'm on.
It's a fucking joke, I hate this ride and I want off of it.
I'm only just starting to get comfortable on Linux, I had a crack many years ago but switched back promptly to windows.
Once I'm more comfortable and there's better gaming support I'll make the switch, it's just not quite there yet for me.
I've been distro hopping a bit with my orange pi, I'm glad I didn't dual-boot my desktop as I'm already struggling for storage with these 100+gb games being the norm now.
I don't think my steam library folders have seen more transfers between HDD and SSD ever.
With that said though, I did just order all the parts for a new PC, but that was only because of some good deals and am able to bring a bunch across.
I've got a fair few parts that are still very new or low mileage, or were overspecced for the future and still have many years of viability left.
It seems like a nice one-two punch of Microsoft shitting the bed with Windows 11 at the same time Valve is taking big strides towards making Linux a viable option for gaming. I don’t think you would see this if either happened in isolation.
Were it not so extremely expensive in my currency I'd already be using one. I just spent slightly more than that for a rig that will last me close to 10years. I really want to see more competition in the handheld space, near future is looking promising, but its not there yet.