Windows 11 goes gamer mode
Scratch the surface of the new Xbox Ally and you’ll see it’s running Windows, which comes with as many problems as it solves (or more). Now that we have the Legion Go S, we can run head-to-head tests on identical handhelds running official builds of Windows 11 and SteamOS—and SteamOS is better by a considerable margin, even if you don’t care about longer battery life or a smoother interface. (And on a device that’s built on easy, fast access to games, you probably do.)
So what’s the solution if you’re Microsoft? Or, indeed, any of its hardware partners who want to sell Windows-powered handhelds? For the better part of a year, we’ve been hearing about how Windows is going to get better on these low-power, gaming-focused gadgets. The full-screen Xbox app interface is a big step, which is clearly trying to adapt some of the work Valve has put into SteamOS. And it’s not going to be exclusive to the ROG Xbox Ally, as Microsoft has already said it’ll be available to other handheld gaming PCs in 2026, shortly after the Asus launch.
Asus
A fresh UI is good news for anyone who dreads having to edit .ini files on a 7-inch touchscreen. The second part of the equation is slimming down Windows itself. According to Microsoft VP Jason Beaumont, the ROG Xbox Ally is essentially running a slimmed-down version of Windows 11 when it boots into that Xbox interface.
Windows 11 Home is still there, waiting just beneath the gaming veneer. But a lot of the gears that keep Windows compatible with software that was written 30 years ago are kept dormant until you switch to the regular desktop mode. “When the player boots into the full-screen experience, there is a whole bunch of Windows stuff that doesn’t get loaded,” Beaumont told The Verge. “We’re not loading the desktop wallpaper, the taskbar, or a bunch of processes that are really designed around productivity scenarios for Windows.”
“Players,” not “users,” I notice. And even though Xbox-branded software and the Xbox Game Pass service will be front-and-center in the interface, it’ll automatically populate your game library with titles from Steam, Epic, and other digital storefronts. This aggregated omnibus of local and streaming games will be the new standard for the Xbox app, on desktops and handhelds. And according to Beaumont, other Windows-powered handheld PCs will get the slimmed-down, gaming-focused launcher mode in 2026, too.
