Microsoft’s gaming leadership has now publicly confirmed that the next major Xbox console will be a first‑party, Xbox‑designed device — a move that locks Microsoft back into the hardware race even as the company experiments with premium Windows‑based handhelds and a deeper co‑engineering pact...
I swapped an hour of pre-bed doom‑scrolling for five minutes of ball‑bouncing, and it quietly changed how I sleep, how I game, and how I treat my phone at night — all because of two things: a charming indie called BALL x PIT and a new class of handheld PC, the ROG Xbox Ally. What started as a...
ASUS and Microsoft’s ROG Xbox Ally lands as a pragmatic reimagining of the Windows handheld: a compact, controller‑first device that ships with Windows 11 and a purpose‑built, full‑screen Xbox experience designed to make PC gaming feel like a console without giving up Windows’ openness. The...
Customizing Windows 11’s system sounds is a fast, high‑impact way to make your PC feel personal and less noisy — and it’s simpler than most users expect. In this guide you’ll get a concise, step‑by‑step walkthrough for changing system and notification sounds, re‑enabling the classic...
accessibility
ai features
ai productivity
amd driver features
cloud gaming
file explorer
file explorer preview
mark of the web
ntlm risk
ntlm security
on device ai
performance tuning
preview pane
rogxboxally
sound schemes
startup sound registry
system sound customization
windows 11
windows 11 sounds
windows 11 updates
windows copilot
windows explorer
windows handheld
windows security
windows update
Update 2.2 for DOOM: The Dark Ages lands with a clear handheld-first focus, adding Steam Deck verification, a new handheld autodetect mode, per-device settings, and explicit performance targets for the latest wave of Windows gaming handhelds — a major step that finally makes the game...
Asus’s new ROG Xbox Ally family may be built to put Xbox gaming in your hands, but storage remains the first bottleneck most buyers will hit — and the easiest, lowest-friction way to break that bottleneck is a microSD card. Windows Central’s recent roundup of “best microSD cards for the Xbox...
ASUS and Xbox have opened pre-orders for two new handheld Windows gaming PCs — the ROG Xbox Ally and the higher‑end ROG Xbox Ally X — promising a console‑like, controller‑first experience built on Windows 11 and tuned jointly by ASUS and Microsoft to bring Game Pass, installed PC libraries, and...
The first time you boot the Xbox full‑screen experience on a handheld Windows PC it feels, in practice, like someone surgically replaced the Windows desktop with a console‑style launcher — and the early hands‑on tests show that this is less about eye candy and more about real resource...
ally x
asus
console like ux
driver mismatches
firmware compatibility
game bar
handheld gaming pc
memory reclamation
oem firmware tuning
performance gains
power and battery efficiency
real world gains
rogallyrogally x
rogxboxally
synthetic benchmarks
vivetool
windows 11
windows insider program
xbox full screen experience
Microsoft’s new Xbox Full screen experience for Windows handhelds can already be forced onto existing devices — but early testers warn that getting it running is only the first step; making it stable, usable, and genuinely advantageous is another matter entirely.
Background
Microsoft and ASUS...
controller input
device fragmentation
driver alignment
game bar improvements
handheld compatibility program
handheld gaming
handheld mode
memory headroom
mode switching
oem drivers
rogxboxally
third-party launchers
vivetool
windows handhelds
windows insider
xbox full screen experience
xbox insider
xbox pc app
Microsoft’s handheld push has taken a new turn: the Xbox-style, full‑screen “Xbox Mode” that will ship as the default experience on the ROG Xbox Ally family is already appearing on other Windows 11 handhelds — in community builds and hacks — ahead of the Ally’s retail launch, forcing a rapid...
25h2
ai features
asus
auto sr
battery life
community ports
compatibility
console ux
console-like launcher
controller input
controller-first ux
device drivers
driver compatibility
drivers
early access
firmware
firmware updates
full screen experience
game bar
game pass
gaming on windows
handheld compatibility program
handheld gaming
insider builds
insider program
launcher
legion go
memory headroom
memory optimization
modding
npu
oem drivers
oem integration
oem rollout
pc gaming on handhelds
performance gains
platform strategy
ram optimization
ram savings
registry tweaks
rogallyrogally x
rogxboxally
security risks
shader delivery
software mods
vivetool
windows 11
windows 11 insider
windows handhelds
xboxxbox hardware integration
xbox mode
xbox pc app
xbox ui
Microsoft’s new handheld-focused Xbox Mode — the full-screen, controller-first Xbox experience layered on Windows 11 — is already being run on a wide range of in-market Windows handhelds, and community ports plus an Insider-channel push mean owners of existing devices can try the experience now...
battery life
community ports
controller ux
game bar
handheld compatibility program
handheld gaming
handheld mode
insider builds
rogallyrogally x
rogxboxallyrogxboxally x
windows 11
windows handhelds
xbox mode
xbox pc app
Microsoft’s Xbox app for Windows has quietly evolved into a single‑surface launcher that pulls installed games from Steam, Epic, GOG, Battle.net and other PC storefronts into one “My Library” — and with the ROG Xbox Ally handhelds arriving in October, the timing could reshape how many Windows...
aggregated gaming library
anti-cheat
battle.net
cloud gaming
cross-device play
drm
epic games store
gog galaxy
handheld gaming
launcher handoffs
metadata gaps
multi-store gaming
my apps
my library
rogxboxally
steam
ubisoft connect
windows gaming
xbox insider
xbox pc app
Microsoft has quietly reworked the Xbox app on Windows 11 into a genuine one‑stop hub for PC gaming, and the implications reach well beyond a refreshed launcher: the app now aggregates installed titles from multiple storefronts, lets you launch non‑Microsoft games without opening third‑party...
achievements
age gating
aggregated gaming library
aggregated library
ai assistant
anti cheat
anti-cheat
arm prism
battery life
battle.net
beta rollout
cloud continuity
cloud gaming
cloud play
competitive play
controller first
controller friendly
controller ux
cross device play
cross-device play
cross-device sync
cross-store
cross-store gaming
cross-store launcher
drm
drm and anti-cheat
epic games
epic games store
galaxy book ultra
game bar
game pass
game performance
gaming copilot
gaming ux
gog
gog galaxy
handheld gaming
in-game overlay
insider program
insiders
launcher fragmentation
launcher handoffs
launcher orchestration
metadata gaps
microsoft store
mini mode
mobile app
multi storefronts
multi-store
multi-store gaming
multi-store launchers
my apps
my library
on-screen analysis
one-stop launcher
pc gaming
pc gaming hub
performance
performance impact
personalization
play history
privacy
privacy controls
privacy settings
privacy telemetry
region rollout
regional rollout
resume and jump
rogxboxally
samsung
screenshot analysis
screenshots
second screen
steam
ubisoft connect
voice mode
windows 11
windows 11 gaming
windows game bar
windows gaming
xboxxbox insider
xbox pc app
Microsoft is quietly turning the Xbox button on controllers into a small but consequential multitasking shortcut in Windows 11: a long press now opens Task View so gamers can switch between apps and games without leaving the controller, while a short press still opens the Game Bar and a...
accessibility
controlled feature rollout
controller first
controller mapping
game bar
handheld gaming
insider preview
multitasking
oem collaboration
power off
rogxboxally
task view
windows 11
windows gaming
windows insider
xbox button
xbox button mapping
Windows 11’s latest Insider flight borrows a small but decisive interaction from the emerging generation of Windows-powered handhelds: a long press of the Xbox/Guide button on a controller now opens Task View, while a short tap still summons the Game Bar and a sustained hold continues to power...
accessibility
beta channel
cfr rollout
controlled feature rollout
controller first
dev channel
game bar
handheld gaming
insider
insider preview
rogxboxally
task view
windows 11
xbox button
xbox button mapping
Microsoft has quietly begun remapping the Xbox controller’s central Guide button in recent Windows 11 Insider builds so that a short tap still opens the Game Bar, a long press now opens Task View, and a sustained hold continues to power the controller off — a small input-change that signals a...
accessibility
asus rogxboxally
bluetooth compatibility
controlled rollout
controller
controller input
controller ux
dev beta
developer guidance
full screen
game bar
gaming hardware
gaming mode
handheld devices
handheld gaming
insider
insider program
multi-tasking
multitasking
oem partnerships
os accessibility
os navigation
power off controller
rogxboxally
task switching
task view
telemetry
third-party remappers
windows 11
windows gaming
windows gaming ux
windows updates
xbox button
Microsoft is quietly experimenting with a small but consequential change to how the Xbox button behaves on Windows 11: a long press of the Xbox button now opens Task View, while a short press still summons the Game Bar and a sustained hold continues to power the controller off.
Background /...
accessibility
controller input
controller ux
game bar
handheld windows
input mapping
insider preview
long press
multitasking
press and hold
rogxboxally
short press
task view
windows 11
windows insider
xbox button
Microsoft is quietly remapping the Xbox controller’s central Guide/Xbox button on Windows 11 so a short press still opens the Game Bar, a long press opens Task View, and a sustained press continues to power the controller off—an apparently small change that has outsized implications for...
accessibility
bluetooth issues
controlled-feature-rollout
controller-mapping
dev channel
dev-channel
game bar
game-bar
handheld-pcs
insider preview
rogxboxally
task view
task-view
windows 11
windows gaming
windows-11
windows-insider
xbox-allyxbox-button
Microsoft’s push to make Xbox the gaming platform that follows players across consoles, PCs, and handhelds is now measurable—and exposed by a practical problem: some of the biggest publishers still aren’t playing ball with Xbox Play Anywhere, and that gap risks turning Microsoft’s cross-device...
anti-cheat
cross buy
cross save
cross-platform
dev center
developer economics
game pass
handheld gaming
id@xbox
indie developers
microsoft store
multi-device gaming
pc storefronts
publisher adoption
rogxboxally
steam deck
windows handhelds
xboxallyxbox pc app
xbox play anywhere
Microsoft has quietly repurposed the Xbox button on gamepads when used with Windows 11 Insiders: a long press now opens Task View while a short press still launches the Game Bar, and a press-and-hold continues to power down the controller — a small but practical tweak rolling out to Dev and Beta...