Microsoft has began testing a brand new gamepad keyboard format in Windows 11 that’s designed for Xbox controllers. The gamepad keyboard format improves the on-screen keyboard in Windows 11, so you need to use an Xbox controller to kind or navigate across the OS.
The gamepad keyboard is now in testing as a part of the beta channel for Windows 11 and even contains button accelerators so you need to use the X button for backspace, the Y button for spacebar, and the menu button on an Xbox controller to hit enter. The keyboard keys have additionally been vertically aligned, so it’s simpler to kind with a controller.
It’s encouraging to see Microsoft add a characteristic like this, significantly as Windows-powered handheld units want a majority of these enhancements. I wrote final month that Microsoft is now in a handheld gaming PC race in opposition to Valve because the Steam Deck maker will get able to capitalize on its SteamOS work and convey it to extra Windows-powered handhelds.
Microsoft nonetheless wants to deal with staple items, like not having the ability to log into Windows with a controller or not getting the on-screen keyboard if you faucet into textual content fields. Hopefully, this new gamepad keyboard is a step in the best route, however we nonetheless have to see much more.
