Microsoft cuts the Windows 11 bloat for Xbox handhelds
- Reference: 1749475569
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/06/09/windows_11_xbox_handhelds/
- Source link:
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 [1]unveiled a pair of handhelds, built in partnership with ASUS: the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X.
[2]
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.
[3]
[4]
In a [5]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."
[6]KDE targets Windows 10 'exiles' claiming 'your computer is toast'
[7]Microsoft will stop pestering Windows users about Edge in EU
[8]Windows 11 market share stalls ahead of Windows 10 cutoff
[9]Microsoft patches the patch that put Windows 11 in a coma
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 [10]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.
[11]
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. ®
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[1] https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2025/06/08/xbox-handheld-rog-ally-x-games-showcase/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aEcFE92VQXiXubhiu0ePrQAAAlc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aEcFE92VQXiXubhiu0ePrQAAAlc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aEcFE92VQXiXubhiu0ePrQAAAlc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.theverge.com/news/682011/microsoft-windows-xbox-pc-combination-features-rog-xbox-ally-devices
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/04/kde_windows_10_exiles/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/03/microsoft_stops_eu_edge_pestering/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/03/windows_11_market_share/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/03/windows_11_oob_fix/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/04/22/tiny11_builder_update/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aEcFE92VQXiXubhiu0ePrQAAAlc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Just goes to show that they always could remove this crap...
...they just didn't want to.
Funny hearing this from Linus (of LTT fame, not our lord and savior Torvalds) only a week after he went on a massive rant about how much Windows sucks for gaming these days (which it does) and how ridiculous it is that the Linux version of the Lenovo Legion handheld was actually performing better in the vast majority of games than the native Windows version did. This despite having to use the Proton compatibility layer, since apparently Windows is such a godawful memory sink that it's more efficient to run the whole game through the translation layer than it is to have Windows actually running as the underlying OS.
"We're not loading the desktop wallpaper, the taskbar, or a bunch of processes that are really designed around productivity scenarios for Windows."
I would prefix productivity scenarios with decreased myself when describing Windows.
First 2 things you always need to do on a windows box is
1) Remove needless dross from running at startup
2) Go through services & disable (or maybe set to manual for a few special cases) huge numbers of services
Its ludicrous how many services are "running / on by default"
"designed around productivity scenarios for Windows"
It isn't productive if it is loaded unnecessarily, saps your resources and can't be turned off (and made to stay turned off) without a lot of hassle.
2Gb available to games
I suspect them mean an additional 2GB available to the games. But surely no OS should use 2Gb, never mind 2Gb more than it needs.
Choose Wisely Young Padawan.
My Linux Mint install is light, nimble and does everything I need it too. Nothing is installed on my system unless I install it. And I approve that message.
YMMV of course, but Windows is just an OS. Others can do it just as well and often better.