How Xbox features are being built into Windows for handheld consoles
Microsoft and Asus Launch New ROG Xbox Ally Devices Offering Full-Screen Xbox Experience for Handheld Gaming
The two newest ROG Xbox Ally handhelds announced by Microsoft and Asus were designed along a fresh, new Xbox – full-screen interface focused on handheld gaming. Earlier this year, Microsoft’s promise was to bring “the best of Xbox and Windows together” for portable gaming, and it’s now revealing how much the Xbox app, Game Bar, and Windows themselves are being reshaped to compete more directly with Valve’s SteamOS.
Perhaps there is no other brand that has Pressurized Microsoft in perhaps an honorable way during the past three years than Steam Deck. Sure, Microsoft has been good enough in developing the Xbox and Game App and Game Bar for handheld usage, but at the end of the day, a thorough transformation of Windows is required. Now we are beginning to see some of that vision come into existence with these announcements.
According to Roanne Sones, Corporate VP Games Devices and Ecosystem from Xbox, in a briefing with The Verge: “We’ve made tremendous progress over the last couple of years. This device really brings our teams together and drives us to build something we’re excited to deliver to players.”
Microsoft recently offered The Verge a quick test drive on the handheld setup, and the tour highlighted how each device fires up with a brand-new, full-throttle Xbox screen. Picture the Xbox app mixed with the Game Bar, then imagine that mash-up serving as the single hub for every PC title you own-Epic, Steam, Battle.net, you name it.
Jason Beaumont, who oversees user experiences at Xbox, revealed that veteran engineers responsible for the original Xbox operating system spent months locked with the Windows team rethinking the mobile look and feel. The surprising blend of old-school console smarts and modern OS design produced a handful of tricks no one anticipated.How Xbox features are being built into Windows for handheld consoles
Launch the device and you skip the familiar Windows wallpaper; instead, a lean, console-like dashboard greets you in seconds. Beaumont explained that bypassing icons, the taskbar, and many background chores instantly frees resources the moment you hit power. Gamers claimed it felt, in the best sense, like booting a true console.
The classic Windows desktop still lurks behind a sliding panel, yet few users seem inclined to slide that far. Notifications, update naggings, and pop-up distractions have been shaved to a dull whisper. Director Megan Sones stressed that every tidy change arrived after watching player feedback pour in, and the team vows to keep fine-tuning until the handheld routine feels bulletproof.
When you fire the Xbox app into full-screen, the interface looks almost identical to the latest Windows edition, yet everything sits beneath a single header that spans the width of your display. Console quick-launch icons, Game Pass banners, and friends updates all crowd beneath that top bar, so the entire gaming universe feels a tug of the Same. No fractured windows, no distracting miniprograms, just one giant command center shoving the outside world to the edges.
New Windows handhelds still need that familiar click, so users can punch in a PIN or scroll through menus by thumb. Full-screen ROG Xbox UI first drops on the shiny Ally and Ally X, but Sones promises existing Allys wont be left out.How Xbox features are being built into Windows for handheld consoles
Microsoft even wants the same polished look on other portable devices by 2024. Eager gamers may spot the glow well beyond the ROG storefront.How Xbox features are being built into Windows for handheld consoles
Major shops arent sitting idle, either. Sones says he is working with Steam, Epic, and a few others to tidy their own windows, making menu hopping feel less like switching browsers.How Xbox features are being built into Windows for handheld consoles
The revamped Xbox app becomes one launcher to rule the lot. Valve-style verified badges will show which titles behave themselves on the Ally family. Cloud Gaming and Remote Play ride shotgun, though only Play Anywhere games or PC releases run without extra layers.
Microsoft has hinted that its latest upgrades will slide into existing hardware rather than just brand-new gadgets. That move alone opens the door for a much larger crowd of gamers to take advantage of the improvements.
How Xbox features are being built into Windows for handheld consoles
At almost the same moment, Valve is polishing SteamOS for a major refresh on its side of the fence. The two projects are racing along parallel tracks, and that has a nice ring of competition.How Xbox features are being built into Windows for handheld consoles
accessible on the ROG Ally, allowing for a direct comparison of the two systems running on identical hardware. Although it is too soon to tell if Microsoft’s actions would stop other OEMs from using SteamOS, as Lenovo just did, it is evident that a new conflict between Windows and Linux is emerging in the portable gaming market.
