Valve has finally provided the audio drivers you'll need if you choose to install Windows on the gaming portable, two and a half months after Steam Deck review. To get any kind of audio on Windows before today, you had to pair Bluetooth headphones or plug in USB-C earbuds or a dongle. Before today, the speakers and 3.5mm jack did nothing on Windows, and the company blamed AMD for the delay.
However, this new pair of drivers should now enable both of the missing audio features. AMD and Valve took their time releasing the first set of graphics, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and SD card drivers for Windows.
Is it time to replace the windows on your Deck? That is not something I would say. While Valve continues to squash bugs and add cool features on the Linux side, Windows was even more of a mess to begin with, and Valve has made it clear that you're largely on your own if you go that route. I had a lot of problems with Windows 10 a few weeks ago, and while the Deck now has proper TPM support in the BIOS, allowing you to install Windows 11, I'm not sure if it'd be any better.
Personally, I'd wait for Valve's upcoming dual-boot wizard, which will allow you to add Windows without first wiping the Steam Deck's existing SteamOS installation. (You can keep the two operating systems separate by simply swapping out the M.2 NVMe drive, but be careful.)
The bigger deal for me is that Windows lacks the same console-like trappings that make the Deck so good in the first place, particularly how you can get an instant window into your performance and battery life and fine-tune everything on the fly.
If you want Windows, I'd look into a dedicated Windows portable instead, especially as competitors respond to the Deck with more powerful chips and/or lower prices.