How Copilot+ can spoil the Windows vs SteamOS war | usagoldmines.com

Microsoft is feeling the pressure from SteamOS in gaming, and may be pivoting to align its Copilot+ brand more closely with what gamers need.

The company’s strategy for 2026 involves downplaying Copilot AI (or “Copilot for Copilot’s sake”) and focusing on improving the OS for its users, executives have said. It will also focus on a specific group of Windows users, one of which is gaming.

In a related development, Windows Latest unearthed what may be one of Microsoft’s early signals in that direction — a document from last November titled “How to optimize your gaming PC setup.” The conclusion is somewhat shocking: that Microsoft sees Copilot+ PCs as the evolution of PC gaming.

“A great gaming experience is built piece by piece—powerful core hardware, optimized software, accessories that give you an edge, and connectivity that keeps you in the action,” the document says. “Put them together, and you get more than a setup—you get an arena that’s uniquely yours.

“But when you want those pieces working at their absolute best, Copilot+ PCs take everything further,” Microsoft adds. “Faster than MacBook Air M4 and up to 5x faster than a 5-year-old Windows device, they’re designed to maximize every Windows gaming feature, from DirectStorage to Auto HDR.”

Michael Crider/Foundry

As Windows Latest notes, it’s a slightly odd thing to say: Copilot+ PCs were founded on including an NPU in their design, and the earliest models, based on the Snapdragon X Elite processors, were optimized more for productivity and long battery life than gameplay.

But Microsoft executives have said for some time that NPUs will simply become a feature that’s integrated into notebooks and eventually desktops, so that all PCs will become Copilot+ PCs.

Microsoft expects that Copilot+ PCs will make up about half of all PCs within twelve months, and at that point, the Copilot+ brand can “relax” or just go away.

While the 2025 cadre of laptop processors might not have been gaming capable, the 2026 chips have significantly improved. At the top of the stack right now is Intel’s Core Ultra 300 (Panther Lake) with a surprisingly good ability to play games — though not all of the new Core Ultra 300 chips share that ability. AMD’s Ryzen AI 400 processors have traditionally aimed at outperforming even Intel, and a new performance leak of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite processors show that gaming is much more possible on this generation, too.

“Double down” on game performance

The key, though, appears to be in handheld gaming. Intel plans a Panther Lake derivative aimed at handhelds, reportedly known as the G series, taking on AMD’s Z-series chips.

Intel

But improved performance can come from either silicon or software, and this is where Microsoft sees that it has work to do. This doesn’t mean just the Windows “fullscreen experience” on handhelds, but under-the-hood improvements to speed up the OS. When I’ve spoken with Microsoft executives, they’ve told me that the company plans to “double down” on “native game performance” relative to SteamOS. Taking advantage of DirectX features — DirectStorage and AutoHDR, among them — will be important for Microsoft, I’m told.

Part of that optimization could involve the NPU. What Microsoft wants to do with the “intelligence” part of AI within Windows is to understand your intent, so that launching a game could hypothetically switch it into “game mode,” halt notifications, and more. Windows still dominates the handheld gaming market, but the Steam Deck, with its Linux-based OS, represents a viable challenge to handhelds. Enthusiasts can even install SteamOS onto devices like the Lenovo Legion Go.

This isn’t totally new. When Microsoft launched the Xbox Ally and Ally X, the company described the “fullscreen experience” as more than just a shift in the UI. “With new modifications that minimize background activity and defer non-essential tasks, more system resources are dedicated specifically to gameplay,” it said. “That means more memory, higher framerates, and a fully immersive experience for players–all made possible by the versatility and freedom of Windows.”

Nevertheless, Microsoft may have won the PC, but the handheld feels much more in play. And it’s not surprising that anything Microsoft learns there could ripple back into the PC.

So combine “intent” with “performance” and Microsoft’s closing line in its optimizing your PC document makes more sense. “Game smarter. Game faster. Game your way. Start your next adventure on a Copilot+ PC today.”

Whether Microsoft’s 2026 strategy will work is an entirely different question, of course. But the direction is welcome. Microsoft is telling me that jamming AI into everything didn’t work, and that performance matters. Those are messages that will resonate in the handheld space, and should ripple back into Windows. Stay tuned.