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Microsoft’s Xbox handheld is a good first step toward a Windows gaming OS

by admin August 21, 2025

The first thing I did when I got my hands on the Xbox Ally was reboot it. I wanted to see exactly how Microsoft manages to hide Windows beneath the Xbox interface that’s debuting on these handheld devices.

After a short startup, I was met with the standard Windows login prompt. But I could use the controller to input the PIN code, an immediate improvement over what’s available right now. And as soon as Windows 11 loaded up, the interface immediately disappeared. The Xbox PC app took over and went full-screen — and for the most part, I didn’t have to leave.

I’ve spent enough time with Microsoft and Asus’ Xbox Ally devices this week to get a better understanding of how Windows and Xbox are moving closer together. Microsoft has created what it calls an Xbox full-screen experience for these new handheld devices, which essentially takes over for Windows and hides the OS away. It’s exactly what I’ve been wanting for Windows-powered handheld gaming PCs for years now, but it still feels like a small first step in a grand next-gen Xbox plan.

The Game Bar drives a lot of Microsoft’s Xbox full-screen experience.

The main interface on the Xbox Ally is similar to what can be found in the current Xbox app on Windows 11, Microsoft’s Steam competitor on PC. This app integrates with the Game Bar, Microsoft’s PC gaming overlay, to form this full-screen Xbox experience. Just like an Xbox console, you activate this Game Bar from a single tap of the Xbox button, and it’s what keeps you far away from the complexities of the Windows desktop hidden underneath.

Microsoft doesn’t load the desktop wallpaper, the taskbar, or a bunch of other processes that you don’t need for gaming. It’s essentially not loading the Explorer shell and saving around 2GB of memory by suppressing all the unnecessary parts of a typical Windows 11 installation. It’s surprisingly easy to get back to a regular Windows experience on these Xbox Ally devices, though.

You can exit out of the Xbox full-screen experience through the Game Bar or hold the Xbox button down to access the task switcher and a shortcut to the Windows desktop. Microsoft warns that you’re exiting to the Windows desktop and that you should use touch or a mouse and keyboard “for the best experience.”

The new Xbox task switcher lets you get to the Windows desktop quickly.

The Windows desktop experience is exactly the same as any regular handheld, and the Xbox team hasn’t done much additional work here to improve this side of the Xbox Ally. You’ll still have to use this part of the device to install and configure Windows apps like Discord and Steam, but once they’re up and running, you can mostly stay within the handheld-optimized confines of the Xbox full-screen experience. It’s easy to connect to Bluetooth devices or Wi-Fi networks here, and if all you’re doing is gaming, then Microsoft has nailed most of the basics, thanks to the widgets in the Game Bar.

Switching back and forth between Windows and Xbox modes is relatively quick, but after switching into the Windows desktop mode just once, you’ll need to fully reboot the device to regain the 2GB of allocated RAM. You also have the option to keep switching between both modes without those performance savings.

While the handheld-optimized Xbox UI on the Xbox Ally devices is a great improvement over what exists today, I still fear the complexity of Windows will creep through during daily use. This is still a Windows 11 device after all, which means there are OS updates and notifications from other apps or storefronts to install that might break the immersion.

For example, while the Xbox app takes over the left-hand swipe gesture to activate the Game Bar, the right-hand swipe still activates the Windows 11 notification center, which looks out of place in the Xbox UI. The Xbox team is working to improve this, but it highlights the challenges of trying to hide Windows beneath a console-like UI.

You can switch between the Xbox and Windows modes easily.

There’s also an interesting setting that suggests you’ll be able to set something other than the Xbox app as the default boot experience on the Xbox Ally devices, potentially opening the door for Steam or other launchers to become the home app here. Microsoft wouldn’t comment on what this setting is for just yet.

Due to my limited time with the Xbox Ally devices, it’s difficult to judge just how much switching between the Windows desktop and this full-screen Xbox experience you’d have to do on a daily basis. If you install Steam, then Microsoft brings any games you install from Valve’s store into the library interface of the Xbox app, making it a launcher for these PC games and keeping you in the handheld-friendly UI. But I did play some Gears of War: Reloaded on one of the demo units on the floor and noticed the game crash, leaving me with a broken game app window instead of a more gracious home screen like you see when games crash on an Xbox Series X console.

I also ran into a UI bug switching into the Windows desktop, which Microsoft assures me will be fixed by the time these devices ship on October 16th. Asus’ own devices on the Gamescom floor also had some weird bugs, including not being able to use the Xbox button at times. There’s clearly some work needed ahead of release.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to fully test how Windows standby and hibernation work with games on the Xbox Ally. I love the experience of turning my Xbox Series X off and then being able to immediately resume a game hours or days later, and Microsoft doesn’t have the equivalent of Quick Resume on Windows devices.

This experience feels like a first step in Microsoft’s plans for the next-gen Xbox, and seeing it in action makes it even clearer to me that Windows will be at the heart of the next Xbox console. Microsoft still has a tremendous amount of work ahead to blend all the best parts of Windows and Xbox together, but it’s about to ship some improvements that will hopefully lead to a gaming-optimized Windows operating system that spans across handhelds, consoles, and PCs.

Microsoft is finally improving Windows 11’s dark mode. Nearly a decade after a full dark mode was introduced in Windows 10, the latest preview build of Windows 11 now includes even more darkened UI elements. If you’re copying files or deleting them, these file operation dialogs will finally have a dark mode instead of light-themed prompt. Hopefully this signals that more dark mode improvements are coming with the 25H2 update to Windows 11 later this year.
Microsoft employee arrested at headquarters while protesting Israel contracts. Microsoft employee Anna Hattle, a software engineer in Microsoft’s cloud and AI team, has been arrested at the company’s headquarters during protests against Microsoft’s cloud contracts with Israel. Hattle’s arrest was part of 18 arrests by Redmond Police, including former Microsoft employees who joined the protest for a second day. The No Azure for Apartheid group continues to protest Microsoft’s cloud contracts with Israel, calling on the company to cut ties after reports emerged that the Israeli government uses Azure to power a surveillance network of Palestinian phone calls.
Microsoft hints at “more affordable” Xbox Cloud Gaming plan. Microsoft has dropped hints about a potential dedicated Xbox Cloud Gaming plan multiple times before, but it feels like we’re getting closer to an announcement. Jason Ronald, Microsoft’s VP of Next Generation, appeared on the company’s official Xbox podcast earlier this week and hinted that Microsoft wants to make its Xbox Cloud “much more affordable” and accessible to players. Microsoft is currently building a next-generation Xbox console and cloud network, so not having to buy Xbox Game Pass Ultimate just for cloud gaming access would certainly be a welcome move.
Microsoft Excel adds Copilot AI to help fill in spreadsheet cells. Microsoft has started testing a new AI-powered function in Excel that can automatically fill cells in spreadsheets. It’s similar to the feature that Google Sheets rolled out in June, and allows you to call up a “COPILOT” function to generate summaries, create tables, and more.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is heading to Nintendo Switch 2. I’ve been patiently waiting for Microsoft’s first Switch 2 game, and at Gamescom this week, the company announced that it’s bringing Bethesda’s Indiana Jones to Nintendo’s latest console in 2026. It’s one of the first PC games to require ray tracing, so it’ll be interesting to see what Bethesda does with the Switch 2 port.
Windows 11 test brings AI file search to the Copilot app. Microsoft has started testing the ability to use AI to search through your files and images directly from the Copilot app on Windows 11. The test is rolling out to Windows Insiders on Copilot Plus PCs and allows you to use more descriptive language when conducting your search. Microsoft is also making it easier to jump into “guided help” sessions with Copilot Vision.
Microsoft Teams is getting a microphone volume indicator. I can’t be the only person who asks “Can you hear me?” on a Microsoft Teams meeting, but that might be a thing of the past soon. Microsoft is adding a volume indicator to Teams on macOS and Windows that makes it easy to see if your microphone is working. This new feature is currently in testing before it rolls out to Teams users in the coming months.
Microsoft’s AI chief wants to “build AI for people, not to be a person.” Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman has written a blog post where he shares his concerns about AI models becoming too humanlike to the point where people will believe they are conscious entities. “My central worry is that many people will start to believe in the illusion of AIs as conscious entities so strongly that they’ll soon advocate for AI rights, model welfare and even AI citizenship,” says Suleyman. “This development will be a dangerous turn in AI progress and deserves our immediate attention.”
Microsoft and Asus’ new Xbox Ally handhelds launch on October 16th. We finally got a date for the new Xbox Ally handhelds this week: October 16th. Weirdly there was no price or preorders, though. That didn’t stop Best Buy from accidentally listing the Xbox Ally at $549.99 and the Xbox Ally X at $899.99. I do wonder if Asus and Microsoft can subsidize this hardware a little further to bring those price points down, and we’re going to find out if that’s possible in the coming weeks.
Xbox on PC is getting a highlights reel and Auto SR. Alongside the Xbox Ally release date announcement, Microsoft also revealed this week that it’s bringing Automatic Super Resolution (Auto SR), which uses an NPU to upscale games, to the Xbox Ally X in early 2026. It will be joined by a new highlights reels feature that uses AI models to automatically capture gameplay moments and make them easily shareable with friends or on social networks.
Microsoft is improving the game shader experience on Windows. The DirectX team at Microsoft is working on a new “advanced shader delivery” system that’s designed to preload game shaders during download on the Xbox Ally devices. It’s launching on these handhelds first, to make games launch faster and run a lot smoother without stutters. It’s similar to Valve’s own efforts to improve the shader situation, and Microsoft says it will eventually expand this to more games and more devices over time.

I’m always keen to hear from readers, so please drop a comment here, or you can reach me at [email protected] if you want to discuss anything else. If you’ve heard about any of Microsoft’s secret projects, you can reach me via email at [email protected] or speak to me confidentially on the Signal messaging app, where I’m tomwarren.01. I’m also tomwarren on Telegram, if you’d prefer to chat there.

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Photos by Tom Warren / The Verge

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August 21, 2025 0 comments

Product Reviews

Microsoft’s August 2025 security updates are breaking recovery tools on Windows 10 and Windows 11 PCs

by admin August 20, 2025

Microsoft has acknowledged an issue with its recent August 2025 security updates that prevent users from resetting or recovering their systems using built-in Windows tools. According the company, the bug affects older versions of Windows 11 including 23H2 and 22H2 as well as Windows 10 22H2, Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019/2021, and Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2019/2021.

Installing this month’s security updates can potentially break the Windows recovery options for users. Those attempting to reinstall Windows without losing their personal files through the Reset this PC feature may run into failures. Similarly, the Fix problems using Windows Update feature, which attempts to reinstall the current version of the OS on your device while preserving all your apps, documents, and settings, is also broken. Microsoft has also warned that the bug could affect IT administrators who rely on the RemoteWipe configuration service provider to reset devices remotely.

According to testing by Windows Latest, attempts to reset a PC on Windows 11 23H2 using the Reset this PC feature causes the process to start and then roll back immediately, leaving the reset incomplete. After this failure, no personal files are lost, but the recovery feature becomes unusable. Additionally, Windows doesn’t give any warning that the reset process can fail, meaning most people won’t realize there’s a problem until they actually try to reset their PC.

Perplexity’s AI-powered browser opens up to select Windows users

by admin June 23, 2025

Perplexity is planning to open up its Comet browser that’s powered by “agentic search” to Windows users, according to the company’s CEO. Aravind Srinivas posted on X that the Windows build of Comet is ready and has sent out invites to early testers already. Perplexity’s CEO also hinted at a potential release for Android devices, adding that it was “moving at a crazy pace and moving ahead of schedule.”

In May, Perplexity launched a beta version of its AI-powered Comet browser, only available to Mac users running Apple Silicon. The intelligent browser comes with AI features baked in, like the ability to ask it questions, check shopping carts for discounts and dig up unanswered emails. The beta version even showcases a “Try on” feature where users can upload a photo of themselves and Comet will generate an image of them wearing a selected piece of clothing.

There’s still no official debut set, but Srinivas previously hinted at an upcoming release in an X post earlier this month. Comet is still only offering a waitlist for those interested, but the browser has already stirred up controversy. The company’s CEO previously made comments during a podcast interview that Perplexity would use Comet “to get data even outside the app to better understand you.” Srinivas later clarified on X that the comment was taken out of context, adding that “every user will be given the option to not be part of the personalization” when it comes to targeted ads. When Comet is released, the agentic browser will face competition from Opera Neon and similar offerings from Google and OpenAI.

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June 23, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

Windows parental controls are blocking Chrome

by admin June 21, 2025

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Microsoft is making it harder to use Chrome on Windows. The culprit? This time, it’s Windows’ Family Safety feature. Since early this month, the parental control measure has prevented users from opening Chrome. Strangely, no other apps or browsers appear to be affected.

Redditors first reported the issue on June 3 (via The Verge). u/Witty-Discount-2906 posted that Chrome crashed on Windows 11. “Just flashes quickly, unable to open with no error message,” they wrote. Another user chimed in with a correct guess. “This may be related to Parental Controls,” u/duk242 surmised. “I’ve had nine students come see the IT Desk in the last hour saying Chrome won’t open.”

A Google spokesperson pointed Engadget to a statement in its community forum. “Our team has investigated these reports and determined the cause of this behavior,” Community Manager Ellen T. wrote. “For some users, Chrome is unable to run when Microsoft Family Safety is enabled.”

Curiously, Microsoft hasn’t fixed the bug after 17 days. (Go figure!)

Microsoft

Windows Family Safety is an optional parental control feature for families and schools. It lets them manage children’s screen time, filter their web browsing and monitor their activity.

There are a couple of workarounds while we wait for the company to take action. One is to turn off the “Filter Inappropriate Websites” setting in Family Safety. However, that removes the security feature, letting the kids run wild on the World Wide Web. (Weeee!!) A simpler fix is to navigate to your Chrome folder and rename chrome.exe to something like chrome1.exe.

Engadget emailed Microsoft for a comment. We haven’t heard back, but we’ll update this story if we do.

If you’ve ever installed Chrome on Windows, this bug may trigger deja vu. Microsoft has a long history of desperate tricks to keep you on its default products. That has included obnoxious prompts, pop-up ads for Bing and begging users to stick with Edge. At least European users will get some relief. Microsoft is scaling back its cheap tactics there to comply with EU regulations.

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June 21, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Xbox and Windows are no longer at arm’s length | Opinion

by admin June 20, 2025

When Microsoft first announced its intention to enter the games console market almost exactly 25 years ago, there was a widespread assumption that the Xbox would essentially be a stalking horse for the Windows operating system.

It seemed like a strategic move designed to ensure that, as powerful multimedia devices took over people’s living rooms, they would be an extension of the Windows PC rather than the ambitious new ecosystem which Sony was trying to construct around the PlayStation.

The form of the original Xbox seemed to confirm that assumption: built around relatively standard PC components, its operating system was an extremely stripped down version of Windows, with games being built on a variation of Windows’ DirectX frameworks.

Over the years, however, the expectation that the Xbox and Windows would essentially become joined at the hip never quite came to pass. Bits and pieces of Xbox’s branding and services offerings were built into Windows, but they never fully overlapped – not least, perhaps, because the battle for the living room that Microsoft had anticipated never really materialised, with PlayStation ultimately focusing on being more of a pure gaming play, and Microsoft’s most serious flirtation with multimedia functionality almost entirely sinking the Xbox One console.

A quarter century on from the original Xbox, however, Microsoft finally seems determined to bring Xbox and Windows together in a way that makes them more or less into a contiguous platform.

We had a few announcements over the past couple of weeks that don’t quite amount to an unveiling of the next generation of Xbox, but do at least point the way to what that will look like. We know that Microsoft has inked a long-term deal with AMD to continue providing components for its consoles – confirmation, if any were needed, that it’s quite serious about staying in the hardware business.

We also know, however, that the company is looking at providing Xbox services and compatibility to handheld gaming devices from third-party companies as well as building its own handheld Xbox, strongly suggesting that it envisages a future for Xbox that encompasses both Microsoft hardware and third-party licensed hardware.

Most tellingly of all, we also got a confirmation that the next-gen Xbox is going to be a much more flexible device than any previous console – it will not be locked to a single store, according to Xbox president Sarah Bond, who also fairly clearly stated that she sees the role of the next-gen Xbox being about ensuring Windows’ dominance of the gaming market.

The era in which Xbox and Windows were held at arm’s length from one another is apparently over; Xbox devices are going to be very explicitly considered as part of the Windows gaming ecosystem in future.

That all of this has been revealed in a somewhat piecemeal manner does seem to suggest that Microsoft is still trying to ease its core fans into this new reality, introducing new aspects of the strategy gradually to avoid the impression that it’s pivoting away from console gaming entirely.

If the company is serious about Xbox devices running Windows, then it also needs to be serious about how that version of Windows will be optimised and stripped down

Some people will still draw that conclusion, and honestly, it’s not entirely unfair – it just depends on how you define a “console”, because the next generation of Xbox hardware is likely to be the most expansive yet, comprising both handheld and home console models, but also likely to be the most similar to a range of gaming-focused Windows PCs.

Does an Xbox interface running over the top of Windows turn the device into a console? Probably not. But on the other hand, does quibbling over the definition of a console actually matter to very many people?

Still, there are reasons to be concerned about this approach, both for developers and for consumers. An Xbox ecosystem encompassing many devices with many different specifications, created by many different companies, is a tricky moving target for developers – very different from the static target of a console, or even the bifurcated target that Microsoft has presented with Xbox Series X and S.

That’s not an insoluble problem, but it’s a problem no less, especially if some consumers end up feeling like their Xbox makes them a second class citizen compared to someone else’s Xbox.

Arguably the bigger concern is that Windows doesn’t exactly have a sterling reputation for gaming performance on lower-end systems – like handheld consoles.

Only a few weeks ago we got confirmation that installing Valve’s Steam OS on handheld gaming devices could massively improve performance over having Windows on them – that story was very widely picked up and spurred a fair bit of criticism of how Microsoft has approached tailoring Windows for these devices, which makes the timing of this most recent announcement a bit awkward.

If the company is serious about Xbox devices running Windows, as it seems to be, then it also needs to be very serious about how that version of Windows will be optimised and stripped down.

Devices that chew through battery life, drag down frame rates, and run uncomfortably hot because of a heavy desktop operating system draining their resources will find it hard to compete in a market against more nimble competitors, whether they’re powered by Valve’s gaming-centric OS or simply in the form of Nintendo’s Switch 2.

Nonetheless, it’s hard to argue that Microsoft’s approach won’t work, for one key reason – it automatically has the buy-in of one of the world’s biggest and most important publishers.

Before Microsoft spent the best part of $100 billion buying out key publishers and developers, a move like this would have been risky, forcing the company to go cap in hand to third party publishers to try to drum up support. Now, although it’s not without inherent risk, it’s guaranteed to have a steady stream of major games for the new Xbox devices and for the Game Pass subscription service that will unite them. The software problem has been solved with some very dramatic chequebook moves, and that changes the competitive landscape in a way that has little to do with hardware design or strategy.

As we await more details of what these new Xboxen will look like, however, one major strategic question remains very pressing: who does Microsoft actually see as its rivals in this space? Perhaps it’s Sony, as it has historically been. More likely it’s Valve, whose Steam OS and Steam store poses a genuine competitive threat to some core parts of Microsoft’s business.

Yet competition is not a simple thing in this space any more. Microsoft’s publishing business is closely tied to the PlayStation, creating a symbiotic link between the companies. And although it was not directly stated, the implication of this week’s announcements was that Valve’s Steam store could actually be available on future Xbox devices.

Perhaps Microsoft’s real strategy is not to have any straightforward rivals – to treat the Xbox and its publishing business as an opportunity to lift all boats and profit in many different ways. If so, it’s that strategic vision, more than any other aspect of the next Xbox, that could really reshape the industry for the long term.

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June 20, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Next-Gen Xbox Teased As Microsoft Doubles Down On Windows

by admin June 18, 2025

What is an Xbox? The answer to that has never been more confusing, but a new promo video from Microsoft teasing the future of its next-gen gaming hardware lineup gives an important clue: Windows. The company said it wants the OS to be the number one platform for gaming as it doubles down on a new multiplatform strategy that supports a variety of devices rather than being locked to a single console or storefront.

Why People Are Rushing To Sell Their Xbox Series X To GameStop Right Now

“I am thrilled to share we’ve established a strategic multi-year partnership with AMD to co-engineer silicon across a portfolio of devices including our next-generation Xbox consoles, in your living room and in your hands,” Xbox president Sarah Bond said in a new video touting the partnership. “Together with AMD we’re advancing the state of art in gaming silicon to deliver the next generation of graphics innovation to unlock a deeper level of visual quality and immersive gameplay and player experiences enhanced with the power of AI, all while maintaining compatibility with your existing library of Xbox games.”

The announcement comes after Microsoft recently revealed the Xbox Ally handhelds, variants of Asus’ next iteration of portable PC gaming devices that run a special version of Windows optimized to recreate the Xbox UI experience on the go. It’s part of a “Play Anywhere” promise that includes PC, existing Series X/S consoles, Game Pass on TVs, cloud gaming, and first-party exclusives ported to PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. It all sounds like a promising pivot away from the company’s shrinking console business, but it also raises lots of questions about what the future of Xbox will actually look like.

A new generation of Xbox consoles is coming, but will they be traditional consoles or mini-PC devices running an evolving version of Windows? Bond stresses compatibility with existing players’ current libraries of Xbox games, but most Xbox games haven’t been ported to PC and would need specialty solutions to maintain access at the hardware level rather than just making them playable with cloud gaming like Sony does with the PS3 generation. Will it even have a disc drive? Increasingly, the vibe appears to be no.

Bond also emphasizes that the future of Xbox isn’t tied to a single store or device, once again opening the door to new hardware potentially supporting things like Steam, which has traditionally been a competitor to Windows gaming. Then there’s the bit about working to “ensure that Windows is the number one platform for gaming.” Unless that’s simply a nod to the fact that most PCs people play games on also run Windows, it sounds like a hint that the foundation of Xbox’s future will be Microsoft’s current cash cow OS with an Xbox layer overtop, rather than a bespoke platform built from the ground up for gaming as Xbox has previously been. The Verge’s Tom Warren suggested as much in his breakdown of the Xbox Ally last week.

“Everything, everywhere, whenever you want” is a compelling marketing pitch that could easily become bedeviled by the details. As it stands, no single company controls as many pieces of the puzzle as Microsoft—software, hardware, and a massive publishing apparatus—but that doesn’t mean they will magically all start fitting together in a way that makes sense or doesn’t require tons of extra investment. And the other truth about Xbox at the moment is it seems burdened more than ever by they need to justify its P&L to the larger company, which is otherwise all but obsessed with cloud computing and AI.

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June 18, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

How to create a Windows 10 bootable USB: It’s easier than you think

by admin June 17, 2025

You can troubleshoot an old PC at your home. In addition to common issues to look for, there’s another task you should take on — create a bootable USB drive. I know, I know. The first time I heard the term “bootable USB,” I felt a tinge of panic. And it’s OK if you do, too. It is not a fun experience to troubleshoot a slow PC and creating the drive is a task that sounds complicated — something that requires plenty of tech savvy. However, in reality, it only takes a few clicks of the mouse and a solid internet connection to complete. You won’t feel intimidated at all. I promise.

Creating a Windows 10 bootable USB drive is something you should definitely do if you own a Windows computer. The backup media can save you time and a headache if you ever need to reinstall Windows. And if you’re building a gaming PC, this is one of the last things you’ll need to finalize your build. (You can also create a boot drive for Windows 11, if you’re wanting to test out the newest version of Windows before it’s released on Oct. 5.)

Besides an empty 8GB USB drive and a Windows PC, you’ll need to set aside about 30 minutes, maybe longer, depending on your internet speed.

For those curious, it’s possible to use a Mac to create a Windows 10 boot drive but the process is fairly involved and requires familiarity with Terminal, the Mac’s command-line tool. It’s not a process that I’d recommend for the average user. I recently built my first gaming PC, and despite my mild comfort level with Terminal, I still found using a Windows computer to be a safer and easier process.

Use Microsoft’s media creation tool

Microsoft has a dedicated tool that you can use to download the Windows 10 system image (also referred to as ISO) and create your bootable USB drive.

1. Go to this page, scroll down to Create Windows Installation Media and click on Download tool now.

2. Once the download finishes, double-click the file called MediaCreationToolxxxx to run it. (The last four digits of the file name indicate the version number of Windows 10. Right now, the filename is MediaCreationTool21H1, but that will change as newer versions are released.) The file should be in your Downloads folder.

Select Create installation media from the short list of options.