Microsoft Wants PC Gaming Back
It's no secret that gaming on Windows 11 has been a little rough in recent years. Performance and usability problems have plagued the OS for a while now, but Microsoft is finally trying to address these issues. The company has kicked off an internal initiative codenamed Windows K2, which aims to change the design philosophy of future Windows updates rather than being a new version of Windows itself.
Over the past several years, Microsoft focused on releasing new features quickly, leading to some incredibly awful updates. A prime example is the Recall feature, which uses AI to save screenshots of everything you do on your PC for later reference. Microsoft rushed this feature out in 2024, only to hold it back due to serious security issues.
With K2, Microsoft plans to slow things down a bit and roll out updates with a higher quality bar. Evidence of this initiative is already visible with the recent AutoSR update that came to the Xbox Ally X nearly six months after its release. This suggests Microsoft could take more care in ensuring features work properly before they reach users.
PC gaming on Windows remains substantial, with Microsoft's operating systems accounting for 92% of gaming PCs, according to the latest Steam Hardware Survey. However, Linux gaming is experiencing rapid growth, now making up 5.33% of Steam's install base, largely thanks to devices running SteamOS and Bazzite. This shift indicates that Linux currently offers better gaming performance, especially on low-end hardware.
Microsoft seems to be aware of this trend, reportedly looking at SteamOS as a benchmark for gaming performance and trying to match it with similar hardware. Even in personal testing, handheld gaming PCs on Valve's operating system appear to outperform their Windows counterparts like the Lenovo Legion Go S against the Xbox Ally X and Legion Go 2.