Microsoft Cuts The Windows 11 Bloat For Xbox Handhelds

Microsoft just demonstrated it can put Windows 11 on a diet if it really wants to, with the announcement of PC gaming handhelds running a slimmed-down version of the operating system under the hood.

Each new version of Windows has piled on features – often unwanted – slowing down even the most powerful PCs compared to the days when it ran in megabytes.

At an Xbox event, Microsoft unveiled a pair of handhelds, built in partnership with ASUS: the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X.

While enthusiasts will debate specification differences between these handhelds and others, such as the Steam Deck, of most interest to Windows 11 users is that the devices can jettison unnecessary parts of the OS to enhance the gaming experience.

In a briefing reported by The Verge, Jason Beaumont, vice president of experiences at Xbox, said: "When the player boots into the full-screen experience, there is a whole bunch of Windows stuff that doesn't get loaded."

"We're not loading the desktop wallpaper, the taskbar, or a bunch of processes that are really designed around productivity scenarios for Windows."

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It's enough to make a customer question what Windows 11 doesn't need to load to fire up Word or Excel. A reversal of the relentless bloat would undoubtedly be welcome. Unofficial projects such as Tiny11 have attempted to show how much of Windows 11 can be trimmed away while still leaving the operating system functional.

Microsoft has also claimed that the device's idle power usage is currently about one-third that of a full Windows desktop setup, and approximately 2 GB of memory can be made available to games. Or users can drop into full-on Windows 11 and dispense with all the optimizations.

While IT administrators are likely to have less than zero interest in which handheld plays Baldur's Gate 3 better than another, or which will keep running for longer between recharges, they will be interested in optimized versions of Windows 11 that require fewer resources to accomplish productivity tasks.

Hopefully, the lessons learned from shoehorning Windows 11 into a portable gaming device will turn up in future versions of Microsoft's flagship operating system, rather than yet another unasked-for feature to burn through CPU cycles. ®