Today, Microsoft and Asus announced two ROG Xbox Ally portable consoles that run a streamlined version of Windows with the full-screen Xbox interface. After promising to bring “the best of Xbox and Windows” to portable devices earlier this year, Microsoft has now revealed more details about how it’s redesigning the Xbox app, Game Bar, and Windows itself to better compete with SteamOS.
Image source: Microsoft
Microsoft has needed to respond to SteamOS since the launch of its portable Steam Deck console three years ago. To that end, the company has been tweaking the Xbox app and Game Bar in Windows to make them more portable-friendly. But a larger overhaul was always needed, and some of that is now starting to show up in consumers’ faces.
«“The reality is that we’ve made tremendous progress on this over the last couple of years, and this device has really been something that has galvanized our teams, kept everyone moving forward and working toward this moment that we’re excited to get into the hands of gamers,” Roanne Sones, corporate vice president of hardware and ecosystem at Xbox, told reporters.
The Windows and Xbox combination for portable devices starts with loading the full-screen Xbox interface on the new ROG Xbox Ally consoles. This interface is centered around the Xbox app and Game Bar, and is where the user can launch all of their PC games, including those from other store libraries.
«”We were able to bring in people who have been working on Xbox OS for 20 years or more and ask them to work directly on the Windows code base to reimagine what that operating system looks like in that form factor. Those two things combined led us to build a lot of features,” said Jason Beaumont, vice president of product development at Xbox.
It’s worth noting that the Xbox full-screen interface is a compact mode of the Xbox app, rather than the familiar Windows desktop and taskbar. “When a gamer boots into full-screen mode, a number of features from Windows are not loaded. We don’t load the desktop wallpaper, the taskbar, and a lot of processes that are actually designed with Windows performance scenarios in mind,” Beaumont said.
The user still has the option to exit the Xbox interface and launch the full Windows desktop, which is hidden by default. “We’ve reduced the number of notifications and pop-ups, and we’ll continue to listen to user feedback to make ongoing improvements,” added Roanne Sones.
The Xbox interface looks very similar to what you’d see in the Xbox app on Windows, except that the library contains all of the user’s games, including those from Steam and other stores, as well as games from Xbox Play Anywhere and Game Pass.
The Game Bar has seen more significant changes. “We’ve made a lot of changes to the Game Bar over the last year, and that’s really driven the creation of this device,” said Brianna Potvin, head of software engineering at Xbox. A quick press of the Xbox button on the Xbox Ally console will launch the Game Bar, which gives you access to the device’s settings, Asus’s Command Center interface, and even the new Gaming Copilot virtual assistant. Holding down the Xbox button will bring up a more streamlined interface that lets you switch between apps and games using the controller.
It is especially noted that the changes are not just cosmetic. “These are not superficial changes, we have made significant improvements,” Potvin said. She also added that in early tests, by disabling Windows components, it was possible to free up up to 2 GB of RAM for better performance in games. Overall, this is a good step towards improving the performance of Windows on portable devices.
One major problem was that Windows-based portable devices often consumed excessive amounts of battery power. “If you boot your device into full-screen mode and then turn it off and put it into standby mode, it uses about a third less power in standby mode than if you boot the same device into the [Windows] desktop mode,” Potvin says.
Microsoft is still focusing on battery life and power efficiency for the Xbox full-screen experience, so expect more improvements in the future, which could happen before Xbox Ally consoles ship later this year. Microsoft has also changed how the Windows lock screen works, so users can now use a controller to sign in with a PIN or navigate that part of the OS.
The updated Xbox app now serves as a launcher for all PC games, but can also seamlessly interact with other apps. Microsoft said it’s partnering with “leading stores” to streamline the experience so users can easily interact with the full library of PC games from Steam, the Epic Games Store, and more. “The aggregated library of games in the Xbox app for PC will be available across all Windows 11 devices,” Sones added.
Microsoft is also working on its own equivalent of Valve’s Steam Deck Verified program, which lets you know which games are optimized for handheld devices, like Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X. Users will also be able to access the full Xbox game library on handheld devices through Xbox Cloud Gaming or by streaming gameplay from Xbox consoles.
What’s also important is that you won’t be able to try out all these changes to Windows just on new portable devices. “The Xbox full-screen experience will first be available on ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, and then we’ll update the ROG Ally and ROG Ally X that are currently in the market. Similar Xbox full-screen capabilities will be rolling out to other Windows portable devices starting next year,” Sones said.