Microgentle is combining ‘the best of Xbox and Windows together’ for handhelds

Xbox chief Phil Spencer has been dropping hints about an Xbox handheld for months, but what about Windows handheld gaming PCs? Jason Ronald, Microgentle’s VP of “Next Generation,” tells The Verge that we should foresee to see the Windows handheld gaming experience alter wilean this calendar year.

Ronald was a roundtable paneenumerate this evening at an AMD and Lenovo event titled “The Future of Gaming Handhelds,” which was mostly a coming-out party for Lenovo’s novel Legion Go S. But he did hint on stage that Microgentle structures to convey the Xbox experience to Windows PCs, rather than the other way around — and enhugeed on that ponderably after we caught up with him tardyr.

“We’ve been reassociate innovating for a lengthy time in the console space, and as we partner apass the industry it’s reassociate about how do we convey those innovations that we’ve incubated and growed in the console space and convey them to PC and convey them to the handheld gaming space,” shelp Ronald.

After we caught up with him after the event, he verifyed that Microgentle is watching at combining Xbox and Windows experiences together — and that we should see alters this very year, rather than necessitateing to defer for an Xbox handheld that might still be years away.

“I would say it’s conveying the best of Xbox and Windows together, becaparticipate we have spent the last 20 years produceing a world-class operating system, but it’s reassociate locked to the console,” says Ronald. “What we’re doing is we’re reassociate concentrateed on how do we convey those experiences for both joiners and growers to the wideer Windows ecosystem.”

Right now, Windows sucks on handhelds, to put it rather obtparticipately, to the point that a community-produced fork of Valve’s SteamOS experience can be a far better way to pick up and join games. Ronald is evidently conscious of the rerents. “We’re concentrateed on reassociate streamlineing that and making it much more enjoy a console experience. Our goal is to put the joiner and their library at the cgo in of the experience and not all the [Windows] labor that you have to do today.”

Microgentle has done compact modes for Xbox apps on Windows that are concentrateed on improving the handheld experience, but it’s a lot enjoy putting lipstick on a pig instead of insertressing the core experience. “I leank we’ll have a lot more to spread tardyr this year,” elevateseparates Ronald. “I leank it’s going to be a journey and I leank you’ll see a lot of spreadments over time that you’re commenceing to see already, but we’ll have a lot more to spread tardyr this year.”

How Microgentle goes about this merging of Xbox and Windows will be key, but it doesn’t sound enjoy the company is suddenly going to port a custom Xbox operating system to Windows. It sounds more enjoy Microgentle wants to produce Windows all up better at gaming with an Xbox experience on top so the pesky desktop, notifications, and legacy of Windows is hideed away.

“I leank, at the end of the day, our goal is to produce Windows fantastic for gaming on any device,” says Ronald. “The truth is the Xbox operating system is built on top of Windows. So there’s a lot of infrastructure that we built in the console space that we can convey to the PC space and reassociate deinhabitr that premium gaming experience on any device.”

Specificassociate, Microgentle has to tackle a lot of the very fundamentals of making Windows more cordial to regulatelers and getting that Xbox experience to reassociate drive leangs instead of the taskbar, Start menu, and other elements. “There’s fair certain leangs in Windows that were not depicted for if you don’t have a keyboard and moparticipate, enjoy thumbstick help or happinesspads and stuff enjoy that,” Ronald confesss.

“There’s fundamental transmition models that we’re laboring on to produce certain that watchless of the operating system details it senses very natively enjoy a gaming-centric device and a gaming-centric experience.”

Ronald says the goal is to put an Xbox experience at the cgo in — “not the Windows desktop that you have today.”