Microsoft experiments with a portable game mode for Windows on Steam Deck

Is the gaming industry about to experience a new hardware fork across desktops and laptops? It is still too early to say for sure, but it seems clear that there is some interest in the industry for machines that are easily transportable by the user, a market in which Nintendo has so far been very comfortable. So, after the rumors indicating Sony’s interest in a portable device and the irruption of Asus, we now know that Microsoft is experimenting with a special Windows 11 interface adapted for the Steam Deck.

Valve’s gaming laptop PC, let’s remember, doesn’t run Windows 11, but SteamOS 3.0, a derivative of Arch Linux with KDE’s Plasma desktop environment. However, in March of last year Valve released the drivers needed to install Windows some time ago, and since at least September Microsoft has been working on a Windows port. Apparently, the project was born as part of an internal hackathon designed to present new ideas to Microsoft executives, and now, thanks to the prolific leaker h0x0d, we have proof of it.

The adaptation of Windows for Steam Deck made by Microsoft differs substantially from the operating system we all know. For starters, it has been designed in such a way that it can be easily operated using a much more compact touch screen than many laptops, including tablets, and includes support for Steam Deck controls in the absence of a mouse and keyboard.

Although the operating system is easily recognizable, much of the interface has been modified ad hoc, making it easier to start the Steam launcher and its games, but also titles from other platforms, such as EA Play, Epic and, naturally, GamePass.

Logically the performance is not the best and in general the appearance of the software is quite embryonic. Much remains to be polished, though that’s something that could be done if, as the video implores, Microsoft “gets serious about portable gaming for Windows.” “Windows users and Xbox app deserve this, they need it […] Let’s build incrementally, launch previews, create excitement”, adds a video that obviously challenges the company’s executives. If they decide to continue down that path, it is something that only time will clarify.