Alright, I do know that headline is a daring assertion. Windows 8 was one of the vital broadly reviled iterations of Microsoft’s flagship OS – launched at a time when everybody was nonetheless craving for the practical simplicity of Windows XP, and sporting a bizarre tile-based UI designed to profit the Surface tablet line, a product sequence that Microsoft has by no means appeared absolutely capable of decide to.
I will not lie, I used to be driving the Windows 8 hate prepare on the time; hell, I used to be the rattling conductor, and I owned a Floor. The most important failing of the OS, to my thoughts, was that it additionally included the choice to swap to a traditional (and admittedly, higher) Home windows desktop interface, however not by default – including an annoying additional step to attending to my desktop each time I fired up my system.
To make issues worse, the Floor did not want a tablet-style UI. A part of the enchantment was that it was a pill with the performance of the best Windows laptops, so I merely did not desire a completely different UI – I needed a laptop computer. However what if that tile display screen was truly good – simply forward of its time?
Floor tablets are nonetheless a feeble competitor to the Apple iPad, if market share is something to go off, however there is a new breed of Home windows system on the town: gaming handhelds. After the success of Valve’s Steam Deck, we have seen a handful of Home windows-powered imitators: the Asus ROG Ally, the Lenovo Legion Go, and the upcoming MSI Claw, simply to call a couple of.
I’ve a ROG Ally and genuinely find it irresistible – the liberty to play my favourite PC video games on the go (or in mattress) is simply nice. Most just lately, I have been having fun with the quite wonderful 2017 Prey reboot, which runs shockingly properly on Asus’s handheld.
The {hardware} is spectacular: the Ally is a solidly designed system from Asus, and the AMD Z1 Excessive chip powering it’s nothing wanting unbelievable. The Ally’s key downside, nevertheless – very like different PC gaming handhelds – is that it runs Windows 11.
The weak point of Home windows
On the finish of the day, Home windows 11 is designed for use with a mouse and keyboard. That is probably not a failure on Microsoft’s half; it is an OS primarily used on laptops on desktop PCs, in any case. But it surely’s poorly fitted to use on a tool with a tiny display screen and never even a touchpad for mouse management.
Home windows 8, however, was constructed with contact controls in thoughts, which was a tad redundant once I may (and did) merely join a wireless mouse to my Floor once I was utilizing it in laptop computer mode. Positive, I may hook up a mouse to my Ally, however that will defeat the aim of utilizing it quite than making my life simpler.
The tile structure of Home windows 8 was synonymous with Home windows Telephone OS, which I nonetheless preserve was a well-designed cellular UI that solely failed because of the weak point of the Microsoft Retailer in comparison with Apple and Google’s rival choices. It was extremely customizable, simple to navigate, and aesthetically pleasing. I think about how incredible an analogous UI might be on the ROG Ally, and I weep for Asus and AMD – all their arduous work partially undone by Microsoft’s refusal to make a correct ‘handheld mode’ for Home windows.
Sq. options
As extra comparable gadgets hit the market (I am sitting on a prepare, on my approach to demo MSI’s new Claw handheld as I write this very article), Microsoft has the right alternative to capitalize on this pattern.
A part of the Steam Deck’s enchantment is its easy however efficient SteamOS interface; the ROG Ally has pre-installed Asus Armory Crate software program that acts as a pleasant, easy-to-use base from which to browse and launch your video games, however you continue to should navigate by way of Home windows 11 to get there. It is an irritating impediment that – fairly sarcastically – echoes my frustrations with utilizing Home windows 8 again within the day. So I am asking politely, Microsoft: kind out a greater model of your OS for these handhelds.
The most effective half? You barely even must do any new design work, guys! The Home windows 8 tile structure appeared positive, and I might be more than pleased to see an analogous desktop UI applied for future gaming handhelds. It may additionally remove the necessity for wonky third-party software program in a single fell swoop, securing your OS dominance within the handheld market. With Windows 12 on the horizon, now’s the time to strike. Fairly please, Microsoft?
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