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Microsoft Could Turn Every PC Into an Xbox (theverge.com)
For the past few years, Microsoft has been trying to mold Xbox One system's user interface and functionalities to resemble that of Windows 8 and Windows 10's Modern UI. But the company has also hinted that we will be seeing a closer integration in the coming months. It is expected to unveil some of that at E3 tradeshow next week. Long-time Microsoft watcher Tom Warren reports for The Verge: Microsoft is currently working on a secret project internally, codenamed Helix. Kotaku originally reported on the Project Helix name, and the work is designed to more closely combine Xbox and Windows 10. Some of that work has started, but more of it is due later this year and next year with future upgrades to Windows 10. Microsoft wants to enable features like streaming PC games to the Xbox One, but sources familiar with the company's plans also tell us there are greater ambitions to make Xbox One games playable on a PC without needing a console for streaming. Part of this could involve bringing the full Xbox One UI and system directly into desktop versions of Windows 10. The latest Xbox One dashboards are built on top of Windows 10, so most of the work involved would be customizing the interface towards keyboard and mouse. Bringing the Xbox One UI over to Windows 10 machines would effectively turn every PC into an Xbox One, especially if they're also capable of running the latest console games.
Dammit!
You all worry about 'AI' taking over the world and killing all the humans when what you should be worrying about is Microsoft taking over everyones computers and making them part of their botnet.
I run linux on both my desktop and my laptop. I run pfsense on my gateway machine. How in the name of the eight worlds of Sol is Microsoft going to convert them all to XBoxes?
When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
Just No.
Don't make PCs and PC games worse, make the consoles better.
Console ports already generally suck. Leave them in the console controller ghetto.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
If they do this I will never use a microsoft OS ever again. Nor will most businesses.
"GET / HTTP/1.0" 200 51230 "-" "Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; Setec Astronomy)"
It is amazing that MS is able to rake in money hand over fist that way it does. They recognize that the console is on its death bed, so they make an exit strategy to the desktop PC. Which, by the way, is only a few steps behind the console in its slow march to obscurity. Maybe this will be the slow evolution from console to desktop to tablet. This way MS has another decade to get their tablets straightened out?
Er...this is a secret? Last time I checked, there was an "XBOX" icon on EVERY Windows 10 installation I'd ever seen...
you will only have to buy 1 copy of a game. That is pretty appealing.
I bought Diablo 4 on my girlfriend's console at one point but she got sick of me playing it all the time so I had to buy the PC version to play on my computer (which sucks BTW, the console version is much easier to use).
My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
App store lock in jail time / ban's for modding = no way.
And there idea of modding that can get banned is putting your own sata hdd in. At lest the x box 360 used to that way.
Why would Microsoft let you play Xbone "console exclusive" games on any generic Windows 10 PC, especially when those games can be pirated much more easily on PC?
tl;dr, more wishful thinking from people who have fallen for "The Big Lie". (Oh look, my Windows Phone has an "Xbox" app, that means it can run Halo 5!)
I only want one game for XBox One. This will allow me to have my cake and eat it too. Now if Sony can make all Blu-ray players a PS4...
It will be interesting to see if those of us predicting the demise of dedicated consoles within the next 1-2 console iterations are correct or not.
If so, then Sony, Nintendo, and MS will switch focus to peripherals (controllers, VR, etc) and become platforms that run on any capable computing device. Perhaps with something like a Ubi-key for their locked down DRM.
That just a natural response to steam/linux. I'm even surprised it took so long for them to enable any windows PC to run XBOX games since the XBOX is a PC running windows.
with the rumors of apple wanting to make OSX into iOS i was hoping microsoft would go the other direction... make all xboxes into pcs. the surface is fucking amazing having a real os in a tablet to get actual shit done.
I know, troll.
But this whole Win7 -> Win10 upgrade thing has caused me to lose any residual trust I had for Microsoft.
I know, troll.
But this whole Win7 -> Win10 upgrade thing has caused me to lose any residual trust I had for Microsoft.
---> into a Linux box
to rule them all...
Dammit Clippy! You only had 1 job!
Sig Follows: "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." -- Mark Twain
They already turned all PCs into tablets with their last crappy OS.
1. That would eat away at hardware cosole sales. MS won't go for that.
2. The whole point of consoles is that you can develop for a specific set of hardware. Though not impossible, and it would be great news for devs, I find it difficult to believe MS has solved all the problems relating to developinig for the wide array of PC hardware by making the software think it's running on a specific set of hardware, and performing fine. I am sure some games do low-level GPU stuff, how would that even work with a different GPU? This could possibly be "solved" by only allowing SPECIFIC games that are developed under NEW criteria that would be PC-friendly... but by that point why not develop for PC and release on Steam?
3. MS may try to block systems that aren't fast enough but some will get through. Related to #2, unless they were coded from the beginning with cross-platform capability in mind, many games simply were not made to handle systems that are too slow or too fast (thugh like the above, software running too fast is a problem that can be tackled).
4. Cheating on PC games is a big problem, but because consoles are closed, it is much less of a problem there. This move would dramatically increase the instances of hacking in online Xbox One games that end up on PC.
mold the Xbox One, you benighted heathen.
I'll let the mold go - this time - as 300 million bloody idiots insist it's right and I can't be arsed to argue with the fat cunts.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
More junk on my system to support features I don't need or want.
Microsoft already tried to turn the PC into a console (At least with the Interface) with Halo 2 for PC. It failed SO hard Microsoft completely abandoned pursuing it further, then blamed PC users for the game sales and terrible interface. ...now they are trying again? Just bring back clippy already!
So maybe after 10 years will it come true?
Microsoft looks at Google, Apple, and Valve and sees the piles of money they're generating from royalties. They're receiving 10-25% of revenues from selling software on these platforms at the cost of what? Maintaining their distribution software, paying for bandwidth, and a couple of servers to store the data.
Microsoft believes this is their best future. Hardware performance is not gaining at the rate it used to. Many programs are being pushed to the web (Microsoft's other focus) which requires less computing power. This means consumers and businesses are not forced to upgrade their machines and OS's as often. The extremely profitable OS upgrading cycle is dead to them.
This is why they might allow Windows 10 to run in Xbox mode. Much like Valve they see no gains to be made developing hardware. It's a loss leader. Selling SDK's isn't what it used to be either. Distribution is where the money is. But making Windows 10 machines run in xbox they increase their user base and extremely lower their expenses. While revenues would sharply decline, profits would increase greatly. And profits is what matters.
This is yet another reason why Windows 10 is/was "Free" and another reason why "There won't be another Windows after 10." MS under the current CEO is going all in with Distribution, Cloud, and Data/Ads. Everything else (OS, Tools, SDKs, Etc) are just delivery mechanisms for their new profit model.
If Microsoft really wants to destroy Linux, all it has to do at this point is sit back and watch.
The Linux community is doing a superb job of self-destructing, all on its own. It's causing more harm than Microsoft, SCO, or any other external party could have done.
Systemd has torn apart the Linux community. It has caused huge problems for many Linux users, as evidenced by the many mailing list posts and bug reports describing serious problems with it. A recent example is how a systemd change broke tools like screen and tmux. Obviously, many Linux users just cannot put up with nonsense like that, especially those running servers and other important systems. Yet moving to another distro isn't an option for them, because all of the major Linux distros now use systemd! The only Linux distros that don't force systemd on the users are niche distros like Slackware and Gentoo, but they typically aren't suitable replacements for a general-purpose distro like Debian.
Systemd is just the tip of the iceberg. GNOME 3 was a serious regression from GNOME 2, alienating a huge number of users. Unity isn't much better. Firefox has gotten progressively worse, forcing most of its users over to Chrome. X has stagnated, while Wayland has gone nowhere. PulseAudio has been problematic for so many users.
We've seen a lot of Linux users, many of whom had used Linux for decades, give up on it lately. Those wanting a better workstation environment have moved to OS X. Those wanting a better server environment have moved to FreeBSD. Linux has entered the same dismal feedback loop that Firefox has entered: the software got worse, which drove away the best users, which allowed the software to get even worse, which drove away mediocre users, which allowed the software to get even worse than that, which drove away the remaining users.
It wasn't outside forces that have started the demise of Linux. It was actors within the community who have been responsible.
windows 10 users: conversion to xbox will be automatic, once you click the red X for X box on the prompt to upgrade
Linux/BSD/Mac: A drunken and slightly bloated Steve Ballmer clad in black spandex will shimmy up a drainpipe and into your bedroom window, where he will sail moistly past your desktop and furiously begin applying "x-box" stickers to the mini fridge in the corner of the room while furiously grunting "developers" over and over again under his breath.
Good people go to bed earlier.
Nooooo
So we built another on top of that and that caught fire, burned and sank into the swamp.
So we built one on top of that and forced everyone into compliance... and that UX, that UX son stood!
Repeating the same mistakes and expecting a different outcome is a sign of insanity!
I'm not even sure what the business model here is - That they'll save a few million by only having one development team across all platforms?
A TV interface that you control with a D-pad or joystick is NOT the same as a PC interface with a keyboard/mouse is NOT the same as a tablet interface with a touch screen. No matter how much you try to unify the concepts the interactions/navigations/cues are DIFFERENT at the very least from an input standard and not even counting things like screen resolutions, viewing distances and, becoming more commonplace, display hardware.
Now there's nothing wrong with having one app store with one purchasing account for all the platforms but the UX for those should be customized to maximize the benefits of each platform. My ATM, smartphone and bank teller are all ways I perform the same functions with my bank - But they're in NO WAY a unified experience!!!
"Bringing the Xbox One UI over to Windows 10 machines would effectively turn every PC into an Xbox One, especially if they're also capable of running the latest console games." What?
This could be the first step of having an open design for X-Box compatible consoles made by 3rd party companies. If Asus or Logitech wanted to make a supped up or bare-bones console, consumers would have options at all price points. This would free up MS to get out of the hardware business and concentrate on software/services. I could see this putting immense pressure on Sony/Nintendo to open themselves up too. Maybe there will be a glorious day when one piece of hardware will run games from all 3 platforms, but in the meantime, I'll continue my regular breathing pattern.
You'll be upgraded to Windows 10.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
Right in the middle of your COD match, the box will decide to upgrade itself to windows 10...
Yes Francis, the world has gone crazy.
So long as devs are allowed to write to bare Metal.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
The average console port is already bad enough, with barely sensible screen resolutions, mediocre graphics that ignore all capabilities of modern graphics cards, a network code that simply assumes you don't give a fuck about security because, hey, I was written for a gaming console where such petty things like antivirus and firewall doesn't exist, not to mention the barely (if at all) changed controls that fit perfectly for console controllers but are simply unusable for a keyboard and mouse setup (bonus points if you leave in the aimbot for FPS games that's necessary so console players can hit anything with their shot controls).
And now I'd want this all and then some more shit GUARANTEED instead of just, well, likely? Basically what this means is that this would take the last chance away that the game maker at least makes it playable on a PC as an afterthought.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
You know, I thought you were making that up, but I Googled it and it turns out douchepads do exist. I'm not sure I'd want to interface one with my computer, though.
I think that providing user configurable skins that optimizes for phone, tablet, PC and game console is an excellent idea..... unfortunately Microsoft has control issues and couldn't allow that.
love is just extroverted narcissism
Why didn't Microsoft do this long ago with original Xbox? The main limiting factor I can think of is that games of that era were written at such a low level that slight differences in hardware would break them. That's actually still a problem now - even if a user has a video card and CPU more powerful than what is in an Xbox One, even if it's an AMD GPU, PCs don't have integrated memory. There are ways to take advantage of both the CPU and GPU sharing the same address space, and those tricks would fail on PCs (even if Microsoft invents some software trick to hide this difference so that Xbox One games don't just crash)
Hmm. Only way I can think of is that Microsoft could release an API that is completely shared in common between Windows 10 PCs and Xboxes. Any game written to use this API would work on both. Technically, this is semi-true for lots of software now.
Another major issues is that part of the entire reason for consoles to exist at all is that it is vastly harder to pirate games. This negates that advantage. Also vastly harder to cheat. If a bunch of PC users can join into CoD matches against console tweens, with their aimbots and optical mice, it would be a slaughter...
If I wanted a fucking XBox, I'd buy a fucking XBox.
I use my PC for actual WORK, and I wish those asshats at Microsoft would realize this and stop trying to turn my workstation into a goddamned game console!
Wasn't Windows 8 enough of a fucking clue that people LOATHED a non-desktop UI on a desktop computer? How many more interface abortions do they need to foist off on us until they get it through their fucking heads?
Do people want to pay $100-200 for an OS? No? Give THEM a fucking XBox.
Let me pay for my OS AND LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
...into a cheezy three hundred dollar X-Box and you're asking for trouble
You do realize you just described the XNA cross-platform compatibility scheme? Same core, UI adapted per device.
They can't do jack diddly to my rig without a login ID, and they simply won't get one. If/and when Windows requires a Microsoft account in order to use the OS, I'm out.
Xbox emulation on PC coming soon! ROM hacks by Team M1cr0$0fT.
No harm in Microsoft trying to blur the distinction between Windows 10 and an X Box. Because they're already done just about everything imaginable to get us to move our photography business to Mac.
I swear Nadella must be a double agent working for Apple or Google.
I swear to you we have gone full circle, wasn't Xbox supposed to be exactly this...
I present to you, the DirectX Box! All the power of a gaming PC, but in a console. We will call it "Xbox for short"~
If I wanted a fucking XBox, I'd buy a fucking XBox.
I use my PC for actual WORK, and I wish those asshats at Microsoft would realize this and stop trying to turn my workstation into a goddamned game console!
Wasn't Windows 8 enough of a fucking clue that people LOATHED a non-desktop UI on a desktop computer? How many more interface abortions do they need to foist off on us until they get it through their fucking heads?
Do people want to pay $100-200 for an OS? No? Give THEM a fucking XBox.
Let me pay for my OS AND LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!
No.
-Microsoft
...that comes branded as a gaming console with silly lockdowns and lots of ads? Though crafty geniuses!
Well that is just for games, but seems to have been the obvious way to handle the various desktops for their operating system.
love is just extroverted narcissism
Never trust a corporation. All they care about is getting your money, and you get a product, end of transaction. Where does trust fit into that picture after each party is satisfied?
Especially when dealing with a convicted monopolist like Microsoft.
That just a natural response to steam/linux.
Hardware sates of Steam Machines have been pathetic. WIn 10 adoption by Steam gamers is about 40%, Linux a bare 1%. The only real surprise in the Steam Hardware and Software surveys is OSX at 3%. Nothing ever moves the numbers for Linux.
for those systems that don't get bricked. Go Linux!
Microsoft is currently working on a secret project internally, codenamed Helix
Exactly how in the fuck is it a secret project if it's already Internet articles? Implying everybody knows Microsoft's secrets?
It's fucking spyware. XBox is also spyware. Spyware+Spyware is Zuck a fucking dick Eric Schmidt too.
inb4 a week later somebody releases a Windows Classic skin that almost instantaneously becomes the most popular, heh.
Games that support this will lack any unofficial or unsanctioned mods, no community fixes possible, something that PC gamers consider to be crucial advantages for the platform
Twinstiq, game news
"I wonder how this guy's experience is different from mine? I know! I'll declare it to be untrue!! That's way easier than learning how to properly use a question mark!!!"
There are people living now who didn't have 9, and, for a while Ceres was called a planet. You can either have 8, barring the specific discovery of IX, or dozens, when you throw in the rest of the TNOs and the KBOs.
So first they tried putting a phone interface on a PC, and that failed miserably, as anyone with half an IQ point or higher could have seen coming before they coded a single line.
Now they think putting a game console interface will work any better?
Idiots.
"I use my PC for actual WORK, "
You can tank gabe newell of valve, and MMO developers (everquest, ultima) and phone companies for teaching companies like Microsoft to lock down shit like a toaster. They want to turn computers into dumb terminals with massive encryption sandboxing and drm.
MMO's (aka drm'd rpg's) were the first step that taught the business world the money is in control of the product by reclassifying it as a "service" by which they can defraud the public at large.
The forced Windows 10 upgrades have been disastrous for our POS practice...
Greed is the root of all evil.
In the most recent balls up of their flagship product Microsoft tried to converge a tablet oriented operating system experience with a desktop one and failed miserably, prompting a backlash of epic proportions. The crap introduced in this failed attempt has not even been completely worked out yet.
Since Windows is moderately better for the time being - than 8 anyway - and they seem to like fucking things up in cycles I guess this is going to take windows ux to the next level of misery.
MD is looking at Steam's business model (but not approach) and decided the best way to compete with PCs that remove bloatware at the OS level is to design PCs that add an additional layer of bloat between its OS and the game.
Steam: PC Metal -> SteamOS -> game
Windows: PC Metal -> Win10 -> Xbox software -> game
This way MS can stuff their OS and Xbox software full of spyware and advertisements, then use their proprietary tech (DX12) and industry relationships to try and counterbalance that bloat.
Or if anyone isn't following me:
Steambox + bloated OS + bloated UI + anticompetitive deals with hardware & software partners + strong-armed exclusivity agreements = Xbox One II: Electric Boogaloo
Fuck you, Micro$haft.
What made you believe that you can't still keep using your PC for "actual WORK", whatever that is?
So let me begin by saying I built my career on MS platform software development but have completely jumped to Linux as a result of the Win8/10 debacles and I now work for a company MS probably considers a mortal enemy (while at the same time being a top tier Partner).
This is everything Windows Games for PC wanted to be. Why not just make a PC into an xbox instead of trying to force multiple ports which screwed us all going all the way back to Halo 1 (WHY?! That port of Halo was so bad and still makes me sad for what it could have been). One version, one purchase for all platforms, with compatibility for multiplayer and all achievements.
Now the key is being able to turn it OFF. Which means no default install of Xbox integration in Windows Enterprise. It means my gaming and my work data are separate. Unfortunately I don't trust them any more so I am not willing to give them that chance. But I do have Steam on my Linux install, and I have spend money on Linux games in the past year... which I can't say for PC based platforms since I no longer run Windows and will never buy another console.
"The desktop is dead" except we're going right back to what the desktop was 30 years ago, mostly low-end Commodore and Atari PC's hooked to a TV used 90% of the time for entertainment and some higher end IBM PC's for business. The desktop can't be dead if customers are demanding attached keyboards for tablets and consoles that can do everything. High-end keyboard-less mobile devices are what's dying right now. Mobile is moving to sub-$300 devices, mostly sub-$100 devices.
What made you believe that you can't still keep using your PC for "actual WORK", whatever that is?
Never said it couldn't. But wading through a stupid "Hey! Duuuude! I'm like an XBoooooooooooox!" interface cuts into my productivity.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Wouldn't it be better to go the other way? - have an XBOX that accepts a mouse and keyboard, can check email and run MS Office suite? That would be a total winner.
If anything, it has been the other way around - Xbox interface keeps getting changed to whatever was then-up-to-date on Windows PCs.
Go fork yourself.
Oh, you're not willing to develop any of this software? Then I guess you get what other people want to develop.
Systemd does all the right things for all the right reasons. Linux has three decades of technical debt to catch up on. If you're determined to stay stuck in the past, feel free to use whatever other software fits your needs.
Oh, wait... ;-)
This will kill both Steam, SteamOS, Linux gaming and ultimately, Valve.
Does this translate into "put Windows 10 spyware onto Xbox"?
The term you're looking for is "cross-contamination".
And neither platform really benefits from it.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
Normally Microsoft does this to specific software packages, not to an entire industry.
Pretty fucking secret eh?
On the face of it, it seems like a good idea for PC gamers to get some more AAA titles, but it means developers will have little incentive to develop PC specific versions. 9/10 We'll be forced to use joypads for all games too, there's no way they'll let WASD twitchers compete with sofa fiddlers. Console FPS games have built in aiming hacks to cope with the inadequacies of the joypad for FPS play. I'm a mediocre gamer, and I played against some friends using some hacky hardware to play on the Xbox with kb and mouse, and it was a massacre. There's no way they'll let that happen, and there's only one way they'll level the playing field.
Streaming and porting the UI is all well and good, but unless the games are binary-compatible it's not "turning every PC into an XBOX".
I am a huge amount is
For those of you that do not know, Windows Media Center is a very fine app, that used to run on Windows 7 - Great TV recording capabilities. In Win8 this was obtainable as a 'separate product' to be installed - but it still worked....well, sort - off.
Come Windows 10 and guess what...it not working anymore. Na-da. not even available.
All I'm saying is watch out.....XBox "may' follow the same path....
My useless, diminishing 2c
Take a deep breath. Everything is going to be okay.