To be fair I have invested in a lot of their “niche gimmicks that will never take off”. I’ve owned the steam link and the OG steam controller (my dad still uses that controller to game, he really likes it). I love the steam deck but none of the handhelds have the right ergonomics for my little hands except the Switch, and so I use mine docked. But even then it’s a game changer not needing a huge gaming rig to play games.
Mostly my problems with Steam OS (and windows Big Picture Mode) is the seeming lack of options for controllers that aren’t Xbox or steam controllers. Steam used to be excellent at this but more recently in Windows 11 (and in Steam OS) the controller support is great when it works but if you want a more granular experience it’s just not there). I somehow have less settings and options for controllers support than I did in Windows 10, and the way it detects controllers cannot seemingly be changed. So if you’re like me and own an SN 30 Pro2 controller with back paddles, you can’t configure them without jumping through a whole lot of hoops. And in game that means that you’re just not going to be able to use them which is a minor inconvenience but one that’s been bugging me.