Path: ...!weretis.net!feeder9.news.weretis.net!news.quux.org!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Lawrence D'Oliveiro Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy,alt.comp.os.windows-11 Subject: Re: No More Windows/Xbox Franken-Handheld? Date: Mon, 9 Jun 2025 00:16:23 -0000 (UTC) Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 68 Message-ID: <102594n$4dma$2@dont-email.me> References: <101le70$3j9qp$2@dont-email.me> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Date: Mon, 09 Jun 2025 02:16:24 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="5752efaa82bad3e61c79f97a111f3c02"; logging-data="145098"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX18HH/91XaNcSPOkNO5nYgbA" User-Agent: Pan/0.162 (Pokrosvk) Cancel-Lock: sha1:0jgQfFIIuFY6sNjab+csvmuPbM0= Bytes: 4424 On Tue, 3 Jun 2025 00:04:48 -0000 (UTC), I wrote: > Feeling the heat from the success of the handheld Steam Deck gaming > PC, Microsoft let some leaks out a few months ago that it was > working on a combined XBox/Windows device that would compete better > in some undefined way. Well, it looks like it is continuing to work on the idea, albeit not in the form of an own-brand product, but with the help of a third party. Specifically, Asus. Here are two reports on an announcement of an upcoming version of the Asus ROG Ally product line that will run this Xbox/Windows Franken-OS. So the device will switch between an “Xbox mode” and a “Windows mode”. But the “Windows mode” will be cut-down compared to that on a regular PC: The Xbox full-screen experience is very much the compact mode of the Xbox app taking full control of the ROG Xbox Ally devices, instead of the familiar Windows desktop and taskbar. “When the player boots into the full-screen experience there is a whole bunch of Windows stuff that doesn’t get loaded,” says Beaumont. “We’re not loading the desktop wallpaper, the taskbar, or a bunch of processes that are really designed around productivity scenarios for Windows.” But won’t that cause compatibility problems for some apps? Never fear: You can still exit this full-screen mode and launch the full version of the Windows desktop, but by default it will by hidden away. So is that a device that can run in *three* different modes?? That’s going to be a fun user experience, isn’t it? And here’s something else to worry about: Microsoft is also creating its own version of Valve’s Steam Deck verified program, allowing you to see what games are optimized for handhelds like the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X. But the whole point of a gaming console like the Xbox was that, once a game was certified for the Xbox, it would run on any Xbox. So now we have to have a two-tier certification system, with extra verification for this new product, because not all games are going to run on it?? So it becomes more like the complications of PC gaming, where the burden is on the customer to ensure they have sufficiently capable hardware to run each game? And that’s even before you get into actual Windows-based PC games themselves? Of course, this is all vapourware. Nothing concrete (and with an actual price tag) is going to appear for some months yet. This is going to be fun: Valve is also supporting SteamOS on the ROG Ally, so we should be able to compare Valve and Microsoft’s handheld operating systems on the same hardware soon. We don’t yet know if Microsoft has done enough to stop other PC makers from being tempted over to SteamOS like Lenovo has, but Microsoft’s efforts are really setting up a battle between Windows and Linux for the future of handheld gaming PCs. Instead of worrying about stopping other vendors adopting SteamOS, perhaps Microsoft should concentrate on offering an attractive platform for bringing out better Windows-based devices.