Microsoft has opened up the Xbox Full Screen Experience to a range of Windows 11 handheld systems, including the MSI Claw. In new testing, the MSI handheld reported using 800MB, or 5% less memory than the full Windows 11 installation, VideoCardz reports. That’s not enough to make an enormous difference, but it further highlights how Windows 11 may not be the best gaming platform in the world any more.
As gaming handhelds have gained prominence over the last few years, gamers have paid a lot of attention the impressive performance of the ones running custom Linux installations, like the Steam Deck. Performance seems great! Maybe even better than great. Maybe even better than the venerable Windows, which has enabled all our gaming experiences for decades.
Credit: MSI
Now even Microsoft appears to be acknowledging this with the introduction of the Xbox Full Screen Experience on Windows handhelds. On the MSI Claw, it lets users boot straight into the Xbox application rather than jumping through Windows hoops first. The result is a more streamlined gaming experience designed for controllers from the ground up.
It also runs faster it seems. In testing, MSI found that idle memory use fell from 8.6GB to 7.8GB—a dip of around 5%. That gives it more room to play with when gaming and could help accelerate game load times and frame pacing.
It may be that the next-generation Xbox console runs a custom Xbox version of Windows. Microsoft has been tight lipped about it for some time, but if it proves that performance is better without Windows but it needs a Windows-like experience to compete with Steam machine functionality, Microsoft may opt for some kind of Windows/Xbox hybrid. This kind of Xbox Full Screen Experience could be it.