Microsoft employees have been experimenting with a Windows handheld mode that would make the operating system easier to use on the Steam Deck and other handheld gaming devices, according to a set of videos that WalkingCat has leaked. The videos, which originate from one of Microsoft’s hackathon events from September, provide an early look at some of the improvements that the handheld mode might feature in the event that it actually releases, such as UI optimizations, improved controller support, a game launcher, and a controller-navigated and touch-optimized keyboard. The ROG Ally, ASUS’ upcoming gaming handheld, runs on Windows 11.
From a Microsoft hackathon transcript:
[…] because the Steam Deck is a PC, it can run windows, but it’s been pretty rough. You know, the drivers are pretty basic, and it’s not ready for prime time. So there’s a bunch of problems, and we’re trying to figure out where to start with this project. So we focused on the basics, where there’s a lack of controller support.
So if you’re playing a non-Steam game, you can’t use the controller. Games don’t open well because they can’t quite interpret what kind of display it is. They have trouble accessing the VRAM, so some games don’t even start. The touch keyboard on Windows is very odd…we think it’s made for a portrait screen. There’s a lot of Windows UI and UX elements that are not optimized for a handheld, but things quickly changed once we started to learn more about what had been done and what roadblocks we might run into.
A good example is this three-week handheld sprint led by Dorothy Fang. She explored all the things that ultimately we want in a handheld experience. We also learned about a touch keyboard that can be navigated with a controller is something we want. There’s a new taskbar that’s optimized for panels, and we also found…a way to use the index controls globally in Windows.
Also, the last thing we saw was a gaming shell created by Hayden McAfee. And we said, we want this in this project. Let’s give us a quick way to launch games, quickly to launch apps. Let’s do it. So we limited the scope to just a few things, and we looked at what the experience might be. So you have an onboarding experience.
Everything on here is is definitely achievable. Everyone working on this project really feels that this is something that their windows users, they need, they deserve to have, and it’s something that we all want to see eventually. If we can truly dial in this handheld experience. We could also see new revenue streams and a lot of goodwill in the PC gaming community.
So let’s look at ways of kind of building on the momentum we’ve had with this hackathon project. You know, build incrementally, get this out to people and previews, build excitement around Windows, truly trying to focus on the handheld market and create a truly optimized experience.
— WalkingCat (@_h0x0d_) April 13, 2023
Discussion (8 replies)
Join Discussion →Plenty of people want to turn their steam or rog decks into PC capable devices... by running a PC OS.
Honestly a decent handheld with a good amount of storage and ram could be a full PC for a lot of people.
Thinking about it... makes me think Shadowrun/Cyberpunk with the high end decks offering full capability as being illegal without a license.. Will be interesting to see. We're kind of already on that path... some higher end gamers game on Desktops and PC's. Many more game on console's, handhelds, phones and tablets. The VAST majority of things people use PC's for can easily be managed on a tablet style device, perhaps with a docking station for ease of use.
When I think about my workplace. They could give everyone in the company a Surface device with access to a VDI to do any heavy lifting compute they need to do and it would be an great experience for them. engineers and developers need full on capable laptops or Desktops. Literally everyone else would be just fine with a tablet type device that can support two external 4k displays with no real gaming capability.
They need 3d, use a VDI. Need to run some large calculations on ingested data from your DB back end for a VP report... launch your VDI with 32 cores and 256 gig of ram and get it done. Heck you can even launch it and close your VID session to log back in later and see the results without burning your own local resources.
Gamers need 3d... so the more expensive hand held will be the demand for them and anyone doing low latency demand work might need a real full on PC. But those would be the exception not the rule. And if you have ENOUGH people that need that you can meet 80% of that need with VDI's and sliced up enterprise video solutions.
Linux isn't a PC OS?
My brother and a few friends use their Steam Decks as regular PCs no problem. Just need a good hub or dock to cover things like HDMI out, multiple USB ports, Ethernet port, etc. When my brother's desktop PC sh1t the bed, his Steam Deck became his gaming PC, and his laptop was his non-gaming PC.
My brother and I both main Linux on all our PCs, so Steam Deck fit in pretty well with him. Steam Deck comes with KDE Plasma 5 and that's the main desktop environment I run these days, and for my bro it's his secondary (his main is Awesome WM). I've gravitated over to Arch-based stuff within the last decade or so, and the current version of SteamOS is based on Arch Linux, so that's cool too. Steam Deck was a fantastic introduction to Linux for two of my friends who had never really used Linux before. Looking at sh1t like Win10, Win11, MacOS X, and MacOS 11, Linux and BSD are really the only true PC OSes left.
Anyways, I think it would still be nice if people could run whatever OS they wanted on a Steam Deck without issue, including Windows 10 and 11. Some tech sites/channels have already experimented with running Windows OSes on Steam Deck, but I think Microsoft should officially support the device. Then again, the Steam Deck being mostly stuck on Linux has really helped the Linux side of gaming. The driver and game support is only gonna get better from here, as the Steam Deck gains in popularity. What helps Steam Deck ends up helping Linux on the whole. Valve too deserve props for a lot of the Linux work they've done over the years, and continue to do.
Fair point. I should have said mass market OS. Though if more people gave Linux a shot they would be surprised.
According to its desktop marketshare, no its not. ;) ;)
He didn't make any claims about its market share, desktop or otherwise. Linux's total market share as a PC OS hinges on the definition of "PC", but probably exceeds that of Windows. ;)
You can always get one of these
https://onexplayerstore.com/products/onexplayer-2-amd%C2%AE-ryzen%C2%AE-6800u?variant=44351231885606
https://store.ayaneo.com/goods/8004284219637
Yeah for a lot more money. No doubt they are very capable devices though, and having something closer to the kind of power I wanted from the Steam Deck. I've seen reviews on a few.