Windows 10 & Xbox One

A couple cool new things coming for Windows 10 and the Xbox One. First, the Xbox One is going to get an update to the Windows 10 kernel. This should help the Xbox with a lot more apps (universal apps), as well as bring DirectX 12 to the system.

"One of the monthly updates that you’ll get on [Xbox One] is gonna change from the Windows 8 kernel that’s in there now to the Windows 10 kernel," Microsoft Xbox lead Phil Spencer said during a group interview in Redmond, Washington, yesterday. "I know a lot of people are excited about things like Cortana and other features they see on Windows 10. Obviously getting on the Windows 10 kernel — well, it’s not really the kernel — but Windows 10 OS inside of Xbox One is an important first step to unlock a lot of what [Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore] showed."

Next is the Xbox One can stream to the PC. So, with an Xbox controller, you can play your Xbox One games on your PC display. That sounds neat, but what about the other way around? Can you play PC games on your Xbox One setup? Microsoft is investigating the possibilities of that. In theory, it could easily work. PC games on the big screen look great and play great. However, not everyone can have a PC in their living room or connected to their HDTV. Having the ability to stream it to your already connected Xbox One would be excellent.

But now the company has said that it is also looking into the reverse – streaming Windows 10 games from other devices to play on your Xbox One.

"We’re actively investigating that right now," Xbox exec Mike Ybarra explained during a roundtable interview attended by Eurogamer’s man on the ground Jeffrey Matulef.