- Microsoft’s March updates for Xbox additionally introduced one thing for Home windows 11
- The Sport Bar has been given a makeover, together with a number of widgets
- There’s additionally a helpful change to enhance the Sport Bar Widget Retailer when utilizing a controller
Microsoft has simply introduced in a raft of modifications for the Xbox consoles in its March updates, however there’s one thing right here for PC avid gamers too – a brand new search for the Sport Bar (and a helpful tweak for handhelds, too).
For the uninitiated, the Sport Bar is an overlay that may be summoned to supply simple and handy entry to a bunch of game-related choices. That features tips comparable to recording gameplay, monitoring your PC’s efficiency, tweaking audio settings and rather more. The bar could be custom-made with numerous widgets and it’s a really useful gizmo for Home windows 11 avid gamers on the entire.
And now, as Neowin noticed, Microsoft has given the Sport Bar a graphical makeover, and in addition tells us that that is the beginning of “a number of visible enhancements that can be rolling out this week.”
The general look of the bar has been refreshed, and there are new designs for among the widgets that may be hosted within the Sport Bar. That features the Seize widget, Efficiency widget, Useful resource widget, and in addition the Widget Retailer itself.
Moreover, whenever you’re within the Widget Retailer, Microsoft says it has improved the way in which you navigate round with the controller, so this may present a greater expertise in Compact Mode.
You may recall that the Sport Bar’s Compact Mode was an innovation introduced in final 12 months, designed to show the contents of the overlay extra optimally in a smaller area because the title suggests – making life simpler for these working Home windows 11 on a gaming handheld.
Evaluation: Handheld hopes
By way of its look, the Sport Bar has been refined significantly over the previous 12 months or so, and that is yet one more step in the direction of making this overlay look extra trendy. These newest touches make the bar look neater and cleaner, a minimum of for my part, so I’m happy with the final design philosophy Microsoft has gone with right here.
It’s additionally good to get that enchancment to make it simpler to discover the Widget Retailer with a controller, which is one other step ahead for these utilizing the Sport Bar on a Home windows 11 handheld just like the Asus ROG Ally X.
The extra Microsoft introduces tinkering geared toward such gaming handhelds – and there have been fairly a number of small steps taken in that course now – the extra hope I’ve for an eventual ‘handheld mode’ for Home windows 11 (which has been rumored to be one thing the corporate has been contemplating for a while now).
