At the present moment, Gamescom 2025 is underway, and I recently got a chance to test drive Microsoft’s upcoming handheld gaming mode for Windows 11 directly on the forthcoming Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X at their booth. Earlier this year, the company announced its intentions to enhance gaming on portable PCs, and this event marks the first opportunity for the public to experience these newly developed optimizations.
In Windows 11, Microsoft is introducing a new feature called the “home app” which allows users to designate an application as a “launcher” instead of the conventional Windows desktop. This customization can be made within the Gaming section of the Windows Settings. Notably, the Xbox app can be set as your default home screen that appears when you start up the system.
The Xbox app doesn’t only run in full-screen mode when you choose it as your primary desktop experience; Windows also makes various adjustments under the hood to enhance the operating system for a smoother gaming experience. These changes include minimizing background processes that aren’t essential for gaming, and eliminating visual elements like the desktop wallpaper and Start menu to maximize available system resources.
As a tech enthusiast, I’ve noticed an exciting change: when switching to full-screen mode, apps and games now occupy the entire display. This setup effectively prevents the simultaneous running of multiple apps in tiled windows, a feature more common on traditional desktop environments. Given the compact 8-inch screen size of my handheld PC, this makes perfect sense. Surprisingly, even window controls like close and minimize have vanished from the interface.
Furthermore, when you make the Xbox app your primary interface, it takes over certain other system user interfaces and modifies them to cater specifically for controller usage. This change is most evident in Task View, which is transformed into a streamlined multitasking screen that can be accessed by pressing the Xbox button on your handheld device.
As a researcher, I find myself appreciating this updated user interface, as it simplifies the process of seamlessly toggling between various applications and games using the controller sticks or bumpers. Additionally, this UI offers flexibility by allowing me to transition between the immersive Xbox experience on full screen or the conventional Windows desktop environment, depending on the swift requirements at hand.
Interestingly, transitioning into the desktop mode doesn’t necessitate a reboot; instead, it instantly loads extra resources to display the desktop. On the flip side, returning to full-screen mode might prompt you to restart your device since the system seems unable to remove some of those additional resources without first restarting. However, it’s not mandatory to restart, but Windows suggests doing so for smoother gaming performance.
Microsoft has hinted at this mode primarily in relation to portable gaming PCs, but it seems plausible that it could work just as well on a high-end desktop gaming PC as well. If you have a gaming setup connected to your living room TV, I believe this feature could offer an immersive experience on a larger screen. Fingers crossed, we might see this option expanded for desktop users in the future.
The updates on Windows 11 significantly enhance the gaming experience on portable PCs, making it more pleasurable and user-friendly compared to SteamOS. However, it’s still uncertain how much these improvements impact overall game performance. Microsoft claims games will run smoother in this new mode, but we haven’t been able to measure that performance yet through benchmarking.
There persists an issue that it’s still running in its entirety as a full version of Windows. This implies that Windows updates remain slow and cumbersome, and sleep functionality can be inconsistent. Essentially, it seems like a temporary fix aimed at enhancing the user experience on smaller screens, but it fails to tackle deeper problems inherent within the Windows 11 platform.
As a tech enthusiast, I can’t help but express my excitement about potential advancements in the realm of Microsoft products. In an ideal world, we’ll witness more enhancements tailored for devices like the Xbox Ally in the future, perhaps even a dedicated Windows version designed specifically for handhelds. At this moment, we’re looking forward to the premiere of the new home app and full-screen Xbox experience on Windows 11, initially available on the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X come October. Other Windows-powered handhelds can expect to join the party in 2026.
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2025-08-21 16:09