No Bloat, More Speed: Xbox Ally Gets a Custom Windows 11 Treatment
No Bloat, More Speed: Xbox Ally Gets a Custom Windows 11 Treatment
Microsoft has officially unveiled a new lineup of AMD Ryzen-powered Xbox Ally handheld gaming devices , marking a major step forward in its portable gaming strategy. These new consoles run on a customized, optimized version of Windows 11 Home , designed specifically for this compact and mobile form factor.
According to Jason Beaumont , Vice President of Experiences at Xbox, the Xbox Ally is built around a streamlined version of Windows 11 that removes unnecessary background processes and bloatware. He explained:
“We brought together engineers who’ve been working on the Xbox OS for over two decades and had them work directly on the Windows codebase. Our goal was to reimagine what the operating system looks like for this type of device. When users launch into the full-screen gaming experience, a lot of standard Windows components — like the desktop wallpaper, taskbar, or productivity-focused background services — simply don’t load.”
Roanne Sones , Corporate Vice President of Gaming Devices and Ecosystem at Xbox, added that the team focused heavily on minimizing distractions for players:
“We’ve significantly reduced notifications and pop-ups. We’re also actively listening to player feedback so we can continue refining the experience based on real-world usage.”
Further technical insights were provided by Brianna Potvin , Principal Software Engineering Lead at Xbox, who highlighted how deep the optimizations go:
“This isn’t just a surface-level tweak — these are substantial changes. In early testing, by disabling certain Windows components during full-screen gameplay, we were able to free up nearly 2GB of memory for games themselves.
Additionally,” she continued, “when the device enters sleep mode after being used in full-screen mode, it consumes about one-third of the power it would normally use if booted into the standard Windows desktop environment.”
