- A new Gamepad keyboard is available in the latest Windows 11 overview version
- It has optimized “button accelerators” for portable gaming PCs
- The update should arrive for everyone in the coming weeks
Microsoft implements a new virtual keyboard to use with the Xbox wireless controller, which will facilitate Windows 11 navigation, especially on portable devices.
The new Gamepad keyboard provision for Windows 11 is now available in the Windows 11 preview version (26100.3613) with a “progressive deployment” that will see the functionality coming to each user in the following weeks.
In Microsoft’s own words: “This change has the possibility of using your Xbox controller to navigate and type.” It includes the use of “button accelerators” (with certain buttons used for inputs such as backpace and space bar) and “keyboard keys have been aligned vertically” for “better controller navigation models”.
It is the “button accelerators” that seem to be the biggest shortcut, as well as the compact arrangement for portable players. LT (the left trigger) is mapped on a key of secondary symbols (& 123), with the capitalization key mapped to L3 (clicking on the left stick), and the Start button serving as an entry key.
The arrangement must seem familiar to PC players who are used to Steamos, which is available on the steam bridge and laptops of the game of steam. Valve software is optimized for hand use directly from the box in a way that Windows 11 has simply not been implemented on some of the best pocket computers such as the Asus Rog Ally X and the Lenovo Legion Go.
With the new Gamepad keyboard still to be fully published, certain features of quality of life must still be implemented. You cannot currently connect to Windows 11 with an Xbox wireless controller, and the new keyboard does not seem to appear automatically when entering text fields (via the rod). However, it is a step forward to make Windows 11 a more pleasant experience to taste for pocket computers.
Everything to make Windows 11 improved on pocket computers
The largest complaint regarding the use of Windows 11 -based game pocket computers was the fact that the operating system is not designed for equipment. We saw it with the launchers (such as Steam, Epic Games, Gog Galaxy and Ubisoft Connect) being less than stellar with touch screen controls, a keyboard that is slow to use and a text that can be too small to read, among other problems.
It has recently been announced that Steamos would start to be supported in non -Steam pocket computers instead of only counting on Windows 11. Steamos 3.7.0 promised an implementation “start”, and we saw promising things from the Lenovo Legion Go S, which gives up Windows 11 for Valve software instead. This pocket computer has the option for the two operating systems, as well as the Ryzen Z2 Go chip, which exceeds the old RDNA 2 personalized architecture in the current Valve laptops.
As such, Microsoft will have to continue to optimize its latest operating system for the portable market if it wants to remain competitive in this particular PC arms race. A better keyboard for Windows 11 controllers is only the start, but a welcome, and we hope that future updates can continue to follow.
