The MSI Claw handhelds are the first non-Xbox devices to get the Windows Full Screen Experience, with more said to arrive ‘in the coming months’

The ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X have a few unique features that have made them stand out as interesting (if not the best value) gaming handhelds. The internals in the X make it the most powerful handheld gaming PC you can buy right now, but its FSE Xbox-style interface also adds a layer of bespokeness. According to the latest Windows 11 Insider notes, that software is starting to roll out to other non-Xbox devices, and MSI is first in line.

As of today, those in the Windows 11 Insider dev or beta channels will have the option of accessing the Windows Full Screen Experience on the MSI Claw range of handhelds.

In order to get it on your Claw, you need to be on the latest Insider Preview Build of Windows 11 (KB5067115), then you have to go into the gaming section of the Settings menu, and enable ‘full screen experience’. As it’s in a staged rollout, you may not see it when you boot your device up, but it should hopefully arrive over the next few weeks or so.

The full-screen experience functions primarily as a UI overlay for the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, and makes a Windows device feel a little closer to a console. It aggregates all your games from different storefronts into one UI and allows you to swap from screens with just the gamepad. The ROG Xbox Ally X doesn’t have a trackpad element, so being able to control it all from the buttons is certainly a plus.

Another benefit of the full screen experience is that it frees up some memory in use, as it skips many of the functions inherent to Windows 11. This means that, compared to running the MSI Claw with a standard version of Windows 11, it should run a little better, too.

Notably, the Windows update says “Additional OEMs” will be “enabling their handhelds in the coming months.” I’d say this sentence puts the onus on the manufacturers of the devices, which implies that the holdup in getting full screen experience on non-Xbox devices may not be on Microsoft itself.

Interestingly, trying to get the full screen experience on any Windows device fits Xbox’s modus operandi as of late: one where the aim is not to get everyone onto Xbox, but to get Xbox onto everything. Any gaming handheld can certainly be an Xbox if it feels like one the second you boot it up. And that’s part of the point of the full screen experience. You can bypass the Windows start-up entirely and go straight into the full screen mode the second you turn your device on.

In our review of the ROG Xbox Ally X, we note that the full screen experience is very much its own thing. “I’ll say it again. This is not an Xbox. It is, though, quicker than the desktop version of Windows.” Still, if you have a Windows device and want something closer to the console-like SteamOS, the full screen experience could do a good job at swaying you away from Linux on your handheld. I would imagine, for Microsoft, that’s partly the point.