Recommended reading

Microsoft shelves first-party Xbox handheld to work on Windows 11 portable performance

News
By published

Windows 11 handheld gamers rejoice!

xbox controller
(Image credit: InspiredImages, Pexels)

A new report into Microsoft's handheld gaming console plans appears to indicate that the company is putting its own first-party Xbox handheld on the back burner in order to prioritize Windows 11 gaming handheld optimization and the third-party offering from Asus, dubbed 'Kennan', as reported by Windows Central.

It's possible that this move from Microsoft is in response to the widespread success users have had using SteamOS on Windows 11-compatible handhelds. We recently covered the Lenovo Legion Go S handheld and its support for both SteamOS and Windows 11. There are a few caveats in running SteamOS, for example, the loss of Game Pass support. However, users who don't mind these sacrifices have noticed great performance output from SteamOS.

If you aren't familiar with the Xbox gaming handheld news, here's the latest. Microsoft was previously reported to be working on multiple handheld gaming devices, its own internal Xbox first-party handheld, and a third-party offering with Asus. The latter project has been dubbed "Project Kennan," and rumors have been floating for a while speculating on its potential release date. According to Windows Central, "Kennan is still targeting a launch for later this year," and the hardware for the device is "essentially finished."

According to the report, Microsoft's first-party offering appears to have been a more native Xbox console-style experience that could run full Xbox games. Sadly, it's this first-party offering that has been put on the back burner, at least for now.

Windows 11 has been the default OS for many handheld gaming systems, but things have definitely shaken up with the introduction of SteamOS. It's more than just the Legion Go S. You can run both Windows 11 and Steam OS on it, as well as the Asus ROG Ally. There are benefits to both operating systems, with Steam OS taking the lead on performance and Windows 11 providing access to the Windows ecosystem.

Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.

TOPICS
Ash Hill
Ash Hill
Contributing Writer

Ash Hill is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.

5 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Notton
    SteamOS lighting a fire under the butt of Windows, lol.
    At least they realize the threat.

    Win11 on mobile sucks so incredibly bad.
    Standby and Sleep don't work correctly.
    It hogs resources and won't run well on less than 8GB RAM.
    I half suspect Snapdragon X will run better if it didn't have Win11.

    SteamOS? It'll just work so long as you have a Ryzen+Radeon chip.
    It does standby and sleep correctly.
    It's not quite as lite as something like Mint!, but fairly light.
    It's easy to install and I don't have to oobe/bypassnro to set up.
    The only reason to keep using Win11 on mobile is because you have an Intel+Nvidia laptop.
    Reply
  • John Nemesh
    LOL, Nadella realizes that the ENTIRE home PC market is on the verge of evaporating from his balance sheet if he doesn't address the incredibly lackluster performance of games under his bloated OS! Not that I have ANY confidence at all in their "engineers" being able to fix it...maybe by Windows 13 they will figure it out...but I doubt it.

    It's also not shocking at all that they are taking a step back from making a new handheld...especially considering how flooded the market is with machines that do EXACTLY what they planned for the Xbox handheld, minus the bespoke "XBOX" OS.

    What IS surprising to me is that MS still thinks they can compete in the home console space and is still planning on releasing a new console next year! They should quit while they are behind.
    Reply
  • TerryLaze
    John Nemesh said:
    LOL, Nadella realizes that the ENTIRE home PC market is on the verge of evaporating from his balance sheet if he doesn't address the incredibly lackluster performance of games under his bloated OS! Not that I have ANY confidence at all in their "engineers" being able to fix it...maybe by Windows 13 they will figure it out...but I doubt it.
    You do realize that xbox consoles use windows for the last 20+ years right?!?!
    They know how to do it, they just don't want to do it for their main OS because they need their main OS to be making them money.

    The only thing the "engineers" have to do is to choose what components to add to the long established xbox OS to make it more usable as an desktop OS as well without overbloating it (again) .
    John Nemesh said:
    It's also not shocking at all that they are taking a step back from making a new handheld...especially considering how flooded the market is with machines that do EXACTLY what they planned for the Xbox handheld, minus the bespoke "XBOX" OS.

    What IS surprising to me is that MS still thinks they can compete in the home console space and is still planning on releasing a new console next year! They should quit while they are behind.
    Just like the steam deck, if MS does another console, it's just there for advertising, the only reason the steam deck exists is to sell steam games and the only reason for a potential new xbox would be to sell game pass.
    Reply
  • thestryker
    Notton said:
    The only reason to keep using Win11 on mobile is because you have an Intel+Nvidia laptop.
    There's a lot more reasons than that, and especially if you play games (storefronts, game streaming and anti-cheats for example). Otherwise I certainly agree with the rest of your post.
    Reply
  • John Nemesh
    TerryLaze said:
    You do realize that xbox consoles use windows for the last 20+ years right?!?!
    They know how to do it, they just don't want to do it for their main OS because they need their main OS to be making them money.

    The only thing the "engineers" have to do is to choose what components to add to the long established xbox OS to make it more usable as an desktop OS as well without overbloating it (again) .

    Just like the steam deck, if MS does another console, it's just there for advertising, the only reason the steam deck exists is to sell steam games and the only reason for a potential new xbox would be to sell game pass.
    LOL, sure bub. If it were so easy, they would have already done it by now. The REALITY is that Win11 sucks for gaming, and, as long as they had no competition, they could get away with it...but now we have SteamOS showing just how bloated and crufty the Windows code is. This isn't a weekend fix, they will spend MONTHS trying to get the performance they lost to the bloat!

    And while Xbox OS has much of the code in common with Windows, it is NOT Windows, it has it's own identity, features and code.

    Also, there is ZERO indication that Gamepass is even profitable...and they artificially keep their numbers inflated with "trial" subs that cost $1/mo...so good luck with that strategy.
    Reply