- Microsoft’s latest Windows 11 preview brings the Xbox Full Screen Experience to MSI Claw handhelds
- It comes earlier than the promised ETA of 2026
- Additional handheld support should arrive in the coming months
It’s only been a few weeks since the launch of the Asus ROG Xbox Ally handheld, which arrived with the Xbox Full Screen Experience (FSE) to provide a streamlined, console-like user interface in Windows 11 for gamers. The rollout to other handheld devices is starting now, which is good to see – it just needs to be faster.
In the latest Windows 11 preview build (26220.7051) in the Beta and Dev channels, Microsoft announced Xbox FSE for the MSI Claw, with additional handheld manufacturers set to enable support for their devices in the coming months.
This comes after the initial promise of a wider rollout of FSE starting in 2026, so it looks like Microsoft has made faster progress than it expected.
It’s worth noting that Xbox FSE can still be used on other handhelds, such as the original Asus ROG Ally or Lenovo Legion Go, but requires some fiddling to get it up and running. Meanwhile, ROG Xbox Ally X and ROG Xbox Ally handheld owners can dive into the experience right out of the box. And before too long it will also be the case for MSI’s handhelds.
Still, it would be nice if Microsoft could bring FSE to more handheld devices, perhaps multiple devices simultaneously, so that owners of these laptops don’t have to resort to an unofficial setup method (as seen in the tutorial video below from Deck Wizard).
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Also, Microsoft needs to consider bringing the new FSE to desktop PCs sooner because desktop gamers also want this experience in certain scenarios (especially to use a gaming PC with the TV in the living room).
While Microsoft’s Windows 11 is still the operating system of choice for PC gamers, Valve’s SteamOS is rapidly growing in popularity with handheld gamers.
SteamOS has been shown to provide better performance results than Windows 11 across a wide range of games on handhelds and leads in other areas of user interface and features, notably its sleep and quick resume capabilities, where Microsoft lags significantly behind.
Analysis: Valve’s SteamOS is just a few steps away from dethroning Windows 11
I’m about to sound like a broken record again, but it’s clear to me that Valve’s SteamOS is only being held back by a few limiting factors that aren’t within its control – and the moment they’re resolved, Microsoft’s Windows 11 could be in big trouble on the gaming front.
One of these limitations is obvious, namely the limited game compatibility due to anti-cheat tools not working on Linux. Considering how popular games like Battlefield 6, Call of Duty, EA Sports FC 26and Fate 2 is, there is likely a significant portion of gamers who would be open to moving away from Windows 11 to SteamOS, but cannot do so since they are actively playing one (or more) of these games.
I’m one of those people and it’s incredibly frustrating that EA, Activision and other publishers won’t make their anti-cheat systems (aimed at controlling online games) compatible with Linux and it’s actively making me use my handheld less since I’m so drawn to Battlefield 6 on my desktop system.
I imagine that if these anti-cheat tools ever become compatible with SteamOS – and that may be a pipe dream, granted – we’ll see a fight switching gamers over to SteamOS from Windows 11. And I don’t blame a single one of them for defecting.
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