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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.
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?
I'm guessing it has something to do with Microsofts recent flirting with open source software. Maybe the next revision of GWX is going to get truly ambitious...
I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
If they do this I will never use a microsoft OS ever again.
Yes you will. If you really meant that, you'd have left windows long ago. Microsoft knows you're just going to whimper like a dog and roll over.
I wish I had a good sig, but all the good ones are copyrighted
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.
"Turn your PC into an Xbox" is nothing more than coded language for "sabotage your perfectly good general-purpose computer by infecting it with even more DRM than it already has." The thinking at Microsoft clearly must be "well, the consumers are resisting our attempts to force them to use the Windows Store, so maybe we can force them to the Xbox Live store instead?"
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
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.
^This guy thinks it will mean having to control his Excel spreadsheet with an Xbox controller.^
I can understand not liking Windows, or Microsoft, but how in the hell is being able to run Xbox games on your Windows PC a complete, goodbye-cruel-world dealbreaker?
You are welcome on my lawn.
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