On Thu, 26 Jun 2025 10:29:56 +1200, Peter Reutemann quoted:
'Nearly a decade ago, Ars testing found that Valve's "Steam Machines"-era version of SteamOS performed significantly worse than Windows when SteamOS's Linux game ports were tested on the same hardware as their Windows counterparts. Today, though, Ars testing on the Lenovo Legion Go S finds recent games generally run at higher frame rates on SteamOS 3.7 than on Windows 11. [...]'
Microsoft has been racking its corporate brains to come up with an answer to the Linux-based SteamOS. There was talk of some kind of fused Windows/Xbox frankenproduct, but it turns out this was mainly just a branding exercise: the first product in this line is now out <https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/10/rog-xbox-ally-x-the-ars-technica-review/>. What it is, is still basically a Windows handheld, with some sort of “Xbox”-styled UI on top. Also, from another review <https://www.theverge.com/notepad-microsoft-newsletter/763357/microsoft-asus-xbox-ally-handheld-hands-on-notepad>: The main interface on the Xbox Ally is similar to what can be found in the current Xbox app on Windows 11, Microsoft’s Steam competitor on PC. This app integrates with the Game Bar, Microsoft’s PC gaming overlay, to form this full-screen Xbox experience. Just like an Xbox console, you activate this Game Bar from a single tap of the Xbox button, and it’s what keeps you far away from the complexities of the Windows desktop hidden underneath. Microsoft doesn’t load the desktop wallpaper, the taskbar, or a bunch of other processes that you don’t need for gaming. It’s essentially not loading the Explorer shell and saving around 2GB of memory by suppressing all the unnecessary parts of a typical Windows 11 installation. However ... Switching back and forth between Windows and Xbox modes is relatively quick, but after switching into the Windows desktop mode just once, you’ll need to fully reboot the device to regain the 2GB of allocated RAM. You also have the option to keep switching between both modes without those performance savings. While the handheld-optimized Xbox UI on the Xbox Ally devices is a great improvement over what exists today, I still fear the complexity of Windows will creep through during daily use. This is still a Windows 11 device after all, which means there are OS updates and notifications from other apps or storefronts to install that might break the immersion. For example, while the Xbox app takes over the left-hand swipe gesture to activate the Game Bar, the right-hand swipe still activates the Windows 11 notification center, which looks out of place in the Xbox UI. The Xbox team is working to improve this, but it highlights the challenges of trying to hide Windows beneath a console-like UI. This is what happens when you build your GUI inextricably into the OS kernel: you lose the flexibility of being able to adapt to different form factors, as Linux is able to manage on the Steam Deck.