Microsoft Is Experimenting With a Steam Deck-Friendly 'Handheld Mode' For Windows

Andrew Cunningham writes via Ars Technica: Microsoft is aware of the problems running Windows on the Steam Deck and other similar handheld Windows PCs, and at least some developers inside the company have spent time thinking of ways to address them. That's the thrust of a leaked presentation (posted in two parts by Twitter user _h0x0d_) about a new "Handheld Mode" for Windows, developed as part of an internal Microsoft hackathon in September 2022.

As presented, Handheld Mode includes several components: a new first-time setup screen that simplifies driver installation and setup; an improved touchscreen keyboard that fits better on a 7-inch screen and can be controlled Xbox-style with the built-in buttons and joysticks; a simplified Nintendo Switch-esque game launcher; and improved OS-wide controller support thanks to the open source Steamdeck Windows Controller Driver (SWICD) project. The presentation also calls for other changes to Windows' default behaviors, like always opening apps in full-screen mode when in Handheld Mode, better UI scaling for small screens, and "mapping of controls to common Windows functions."

Yeah that didn't work out so well last time

[ArmoredDragon]

Microsoft lost billions trying to make a handheld version of Windows already, and it was called Windows phone. It was unambiguously a big pile of shit, and the tile interface was retarded, hence nobody bought it.

Re:

[Misagon]

Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man...
I've met people who got a Windows phone and really liked it.

What killed it was that iOS and Android had already become entrenched, and app developers were unwilling to develop for a third platform. Blackberry had that same problem when they had launched touchscreen phones, and had to add an Android subsystem.
Microsoft also changed too much between Windows Phone versions, which further alienated developers.

Personally, I found the touch interface interesting but th

Re:

[gweihir]

Microsoft has lost control of most of their products awhile ago, in particular of Windows. They are now so deep into technological debt that they cannot even really fix things anymore and they certainly cannot improve the major and often fundamental problems Windows (and many of their other products) still have. The whole steaming pile would have to be thrown away and they would need to start over. (Note that on the OS side, Apple did that with pretty impressive success.) That will probably not happen for W

Re:

[Darinbob]

Actually the phone wasn't that bad. The big problems were with Microsoft, yet again, trying to enter a well established market and assuming it will immediately be the industry leader in that market; and the Microsoft tendency to act before they think and releasing before they're ready. Ie, they disrupted a lot of customers when Windows Phone X was not compatible with Windows Phone X+1.

For the user interface it seemed reasonable for a hand held device, with some usability advances over the iPhone and Andro

Re: Yeah that didn't work out so well last time

[ArmoredDragon]

That latter part is a huge reason why Microsoft lost. Any company that has the capability of producing decent a phone doesn't want to just produce a commodity. But that is exactly what Microsoft was forcing them to do. Only some, like Nokia and Samsung, got on board because Microsoft offered them some kind of incentive. But even then it wasn't worth it to them.

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[Darinbob]

Microsoft (via the Stephen Elop proxy) canceled the nearly ready to release Meego, along with Symbian phones (ie, feature phones), in favor of Microsoft Windows Phones. Had a relative working indireclty on Meego at the time and it looked to be pretty nice. So thus destroyed the biggest tech company in Finland at the time. Remember Nokia was still a tech company at the time, still with research labs, while Microsoft had been steadily declining in the tech front for years (so much feels like it was borrowe

must be online 24/7 will rundown the battery fast

[Joe_Dragon]

must be online 24/7 will rundown the battery fast

Good

[stikves]

I actually dual boot my Steam Deck into Windows, and this is really good news.

(Before you ask why? Some stores like Epic do not work well on the Steam OS. Yes, this is less than ideal).

And, usage is a chore on Windows. The issues are exactly like those listed here. The on screen keyboard is "barely working". The Mouse emulation with the controller is also barely working. And everything is frustrating out there only to launch my games that I paid for.

And more handhelds like the recent ASUS announcement, or A

Re:

[drinkypoo]

Some stores like Epic do not work well on the Steam OS. Yes, this is less than ideal).
And, usage is a chore on Windows. The issues are exactly like those listed here. The on screen keyboard is "barely working". The Mouse emulation with the controller is also barely working. And everything is frustrating out there only to launch my games that I paid for.

So add the games to Steam, autolaunch steam, and use its interface. At least it's designed for controllers. I know you have to have the Epic launcher for your Epic DRM, but you can still launch the games from Steam

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[stikves]

Unfortunately that is not so easy without a native Epic games launcher for Linux: https://www.polygon.com/guides... [polygon.com].

Yes, you can do that in Windows. Then again, you still need to work with Epic launcher in the first install.

So, again, this new Windows UI, whenever it comes, is good for me.

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[McLoud]

Unfortunately that is not so easy without a native Epic games launcher for Linux: https://www.polygon.com/guides... [polygon.com].

Yes, you can do that in Windows. Then again, you still need to work with Epic launcher in the first install.

So, again, this new Windows UI, whenever it comes, is good for me.

After reading that guide, it seems the real solution is to epic launcher gets actual steam/lower resolution support instead of windows ui

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[Kitkoan]

Just use the Heroic Game Launcher. Its a third parry launcher for GOG and Epic Games, works great on Steam Deck, even has an option to make a shortcut for Steam with everything set up, so you can play Epic games without needing to boot to Desktop mode.

Re:

[Can'tNot]

This will be good for the Windows-based competitors to Steam Deck as well, like the GPD devices. I imagine that's the point. Or maybe Microsoft is planning to get into that themselves... A handheld gaming device from Microsoft isn't implausible, they could call it the Xbox 2.

Though personally I wish GPD would just offer better support for Linux.

Microsoft is forever out of touch

[OfMiceAndMenus]

Stick to making overpriced intrusive bullshit nobody really likes but they're stuck in for businesses and prebuilt BestBuy facebook machines.

One of the BEST selling points of the SteamDeck is that it doesn't run Windows, which is realistically why it works properly. Why the actual fuck would I ever want to bloat the shit out of the OS and decrease the performance of my device?

Windows PCs?

[Uldis Segliņš]

running Windows on the Steam Deck and other similar handheld Windows PCs... Since when is Steam Deck a Windows PC? Neither Windows nor a PC.