Using Steam OS as a Desktop: My Experience with the Legion Go S for Work

I’m diving in to share a tale about Linux—an OS I never really gave a second glance during my life, being a creature of habit, deeply entrenched in the realms of Windows and Mac. But let’s rewind a bit. Picture me, a pre-teen geek, tapping away at IBM PC-DOS, eventually swapping floppies for Windows 3.11. Fast forward, and I’m all about Mac since 2009. Who would’ve thought I’d end up tangled in Linux’s web?

Anyway—yeah, curiosity got the better of me. Lenovo handed me this nifty gaming gizmo, the Legion Go S, and I decided, “Hey, why not take Linux for a spin?” (Spoiler: this thing’s primed for gaming, but let’s see how it fares if you’re a “gotta-get-those-words-down” kind of person.)

Alright, kickstart the adventure with KDE Plasma. Now, meandering through Linux as a noob is… let’s say a wild ride. By default, the device heads to the SteamOS playground. But hold the power for a count of four—voilà, a menu pops up and boom, you’re in KDE Plasma territory. Side note: Doing word stuff or just browsing, you can totally skip using a mouse or keyboard. But let’s be real, it’s a tad clunky without them.

Tangent warning—how many USB-C ports does a guy need? Two, apparently, and it’s a dance swapping between them for keyboards, mice, monitors. Oh, and speaking of monitors, connecting the Espresso Displays 15 Pro was like, “Will it? Won’t it?” Spoiler—needed a little extra juice to get it glowing right.

Then there I was, knee-deep in app-land trying to download Microsoft Edge. Yeah, I know everyone’s all about Chrome, but hey, I’ve got my Microsoft loyalties. Eight agonizing minutes later, Edge decides it wants to join the party. T-Mobile laughs at my download woes.

Oh, and the FLIR C2 camera? Yeah, plugged it in, did its thing. But my biggest hiccup—attempting to use the touchpad. Boom, freeze, back to SteamOS. Twice. Sometimes, it’s like tech has a sense of humor. Or a vendetta. Let’s go with vendetta.

Photogs unite—iPhone snaps, Google Photos do their magic cloud dance, and GIMP becomes the editing hero of the hour. My pick usually? Pixelmator on the Mac, but GIMP’s hanging in there just fine.

If we wrap this up—is Linux now my go-to OS? Probably not. But this jaunt with the Legion Go S turned into a pretty entertaining side quest. Conclusion: Fun experiment, but was it all smooth sailing? Not exactly. However, once past that touchpad disaster, everything else was surprisingly… doable.

So, final tip—if you’re stepping off into the Linux wilds on a device like this, pack some patience (and maybe an extra USB-C dock). Just saying.