There is more to an 'OS' than the kernel.

SteamDecks are indistinguishable from PCs, since they run more or less exactly the same software as a Linux desktop/laptop would.

It’s still not a desktop PC. You’ll notice that iOS, Android and iPadOS aren’t included in the list either, even though the devices that run those operating systems can also replicate some subset of the desktop pc experience (and much more comprehensively than the steam deck can).

At best it would be a general purpose mobile device, but even that is rather contrived. How many users do you imagine are using a steam deck as a substitute for a desktop or a different mobile device? I would guess something very close to 0.

Anecdotal but I bring my steam deck with a dock and M&K with me when I visit family since I don't have a desktop computer there.

Also, the Steam Deck's OS is by far the closest you can get to a traditional Linux distro since it's GNU+Linux under the hood. The built-in desktop mode is extremely close to a basic KDE Arch install, especially after you disable read-only mode. Android doesn't have as full-featured of a desktop experience unless we count Samsung DeX and even then display out is available on a vast minority of devices. iOS has no native display out and iPadOS doesn't even support normal 16:9 screens without black borders. The issue with all of the above devices is that their "desktop" modes are janky afterthoughts while on the Steam Deck it's a core feature.

Is a windows server a desktop PC. If not, why?

If you daily drive it with a GUI, then it's close enough.

Can you think of any reasons why it may have been omitted from these statistics then?

Because it's derived from web browsing statistics, which is something people using it as a server and not a desktop don't do very much of

Your guess is very wrong. I've been using my deck as a laptop occasionally, and I've seen a lot of posts on a sub on the recently deceased site of people using it as such. And why not? It's basically a touchscreen laptop without a keyboard and with a small screen.

Also, the deck does not replicate a subset of the desktop experience, it just contains a desktop experience. Unless the KDE desktop is not a desktop now. If that's the case - it runs windows.

> that run those operating systems can also replicate some subset of the desktop pc experience

But Steam Deck is just running a fork of Arch not some other operating system. From analytics perspective it's indistinguishable to any Linux PC. Also IIRC you can just connect it a display which would turn into a desktop PC.

> At best it would be a general purpose mobile device, but even that is rather contrived. How many users do you imagine are using a steam deck as a substitute for a desktop or a different mobile device?

Is it contrived? They've shown, in their official marketing videos, demonstrations of the steam deck being hooked up to an external monitor and being used to run KDE and Windows 10.

You can actually switch to desktop mode, which is a full KDE environment, so it is a Linux desktop PC.

A desktop PC is not a type of operating system. It’s a type of computer designed for a specific use case, distinct from servers, mobile devices, handheld gaming devices or gaming consoles. A windows server or Linux server with KDE/gnome is not a desktop. A mobile phone isn’t a desktop, and it wouldn’t become a desktop even if you installed a plain Linux distro with KDE on it. A PlayStation, switch or Xbox isn’t a desktop PC, and neither is a steamdeck.

It’s an arbitrarily defined category of computer, and this statistics site doesn’t mention how they’ve specified that definition, but it seems they haven’t included any server, mobile/handheld, or gaming console devices at all, not just the steamdeck.

It really sounds like you don't understand how the OS is set up on the steam deck. It's a normal desktop environment with a customized version of steam installed.

If laptops get to be included (which they usually are), then steamdeck gets to be included.

It doesn't replicate "some subset" of the desktop experience. It does everything a small tower can, plus things it can't do.

Steam Deck's desktop environment is barely usable without connecting it to a dock and using an external keyboard and mouse.

You won't use it as a daily driver in handheld mode. The virtual keyboard covers half of the screen, the touchscreen is unusable as a mouse and touchpads are inconvenient.

Ordinary laptops don't have these problems.

I deliberately didn't compare it to a laptop, because the topic at hand is whether it qualifies as a "desktop". If it can function without an external keyboard and mouse that's a bonus feature.

To be fair, a desktop tower computer is not usable without using an external keyboard and mouse either.

And other desktop computers are usable without a keyboard, mouse and display? I don't think so...

Switch uses its own proprietary microkernel.

Steam deck is a PC by Valve's own admission and my own anecdotal experience with mine.