Well, today's finally the day. For a little while now, we've seen Microsoft introducing a new gaming-oriented feature called "Full Screen Experience" (FSR). We first saw this feature pop up on the Rog Xbox Ally handheld, but Microsoft stated that it wanted to bring the feature to more devices in the future.

Yesterday, the company briefly mentioned that it would bring FSR to other handhelds starting today. Now, the company has published a blog post announcing FSR's general preview release, including instructions on how you can give this feature a try for yourself.

Microsoft releases Windows 11's Full Screen Experience to the preview channel

The main goal for the FSR is to turn Windows 11 into a more console-oriented operating system. If you've ever tried out Steam Big Picture Mode, it's similar to that: a UI that emphasises controllers over keyboard and mouse.

The Full Screen Experience first appeared on Microsoft's handheld consoles. It was designed not only to make it easier for people to select the game they want to play using the buttons on the Rog Xbox Ally, but FSR also provided some performance boosts by redirecting the console's resources toward rendering the game.

Right now, Microsoft is pushing FSR to "Windows 11 PC form factors, such as laptops, desktops, and tablets." This correlates with the company's recent drive to "turn everything into an Xbox," as we've seen the company put less focus on its Xbox exclusivity in exchange to allowing more people than ever to play its games. We've heard whispers that Microsoft will eventually release a console that uses Windows 11's FSE at its core, so we may be getting a sneak peek into what the Xbox of the future will look like.

The bad news is, you can't just hop into the FSE on any PC right now. It's still in the public testing phase, so you need to be enrolled in the Xbox Insider program to download it. The good news is, Microsoft detailed the steps you need to perform in its blog post:

• Join the Xbox Insider Program if you haven’t already: Xbox Insider Home | Xbox Support
• Install/Launch the Xbox Insider Hub app
• Navigate to Previews > PC Gaming Preview
• Select Join
• Join the Windows Insider Program Join the Windows Insider Program and manage Insider settings – Microsoft Support
• Join Beta or Dev channels

Once that's done, check out Microsoft's guidance on using the Full Screen Experience to get it up and running. And don't forget, you are a tester now, so be sure to send Microsoft any feedback you have. The company recommends heading over to the Xbox Insider subreddit and either making a new post there or replying to an existing thread that already describes your issue.