Windows 10 - Heavy Xbox Integration

[BSim500]

This has the potential to allow PC gamers into the Xbox world. Stream the new CoD to your PC and use a mouse & keyboard. It'd be a slaughter.

IIRC, they ditched the idea of console vs PC cross-platform multiplayer in the past for precisely that reason:-

"I've heard from reliable sources that during the development they brought together the best console gamers to play mediocre PC gamers at the same game... and guess what happened? They pitted console gamers with their 'console' controller, against PC gamers with their keyboard and mouse. "The console players got destroyed every time. So much so that it would be embarrassing to the Xbox team in general had Microsoft launched this initiative."
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ms-killed-pc-xbox-cross-platform-play
http://www.techspot.com/news/39738-...because-pc-gamers-wrecked-console-gamers.html

 

[Blitzvogel]

IIRC, they ditched the idea of console vs PC cross-platform multiplayer in the past for precisely that reason:-

"I've heard from reliable sources that during the development they brought together the best console gamers to play mediocre PC gamers at the same game... and guess what happened? They pitted console gamers with their 'console' controller, against PC gamers with their keyboard and mouse. "The console players got destroyed every time. So much so that it would be embarrassing to the Xbox team in general had Microsoft launched this initiative."
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/ms-killed-pc-xbox-cross-platform-play
http://www.techspot.com/news/39738-...because-pc-gamers-wrecked-console-gamers.html

While I understand that a controller can and does stand for a brand, at the same time, it would be cool to see MS or Sony actually encourage developers to support the mouse and KB as an option for gamers. Disparities in control type availability could be alleviated. War Thunder on PS4 I think supports mouse and KB along with any USB joystick. Obviously this was necessary to give console gamers a chance.

 

[sze5003]

What games are you playing on your Xbox that you can't play on your PC? I'm just imagining the issues of my Xbox streaming 1080p content to my 1440p monitor and it looking like crap. Plus I'm, you know, playing an xbox game on my 27" computer monitor.

It's not about the games. Its about the availability to play my Xbox one games when someone is in the living room using the TV. 80% of the time the TV is being used which is why I moved my ps4 to my bedroom. With the streaming, if I want to play Xbox, I don't need to wait until the TV is unoccupied.

 

[Demo24]

Windows 10: Steam banned

Why do I feel like that is coming?

Was kinda funny that during the presentation they had steam open and used it to play some civilization. At that point I was really hoping to see PC to Xbox streaming, but it went the other way. Maybe one day they will reverse it, or someone will come up with an app.

 

[Techhog]

I'm still on 7. Will wait and see what the reaction is, but unless I can arrange things so I never see that starting screen of tiles I'll stay with 7 until support runs out.

You never have to see the start screen. It's completely disabled by default if you don't have a touchscreen. Also, waiting will mean that you won't get it for free, since it's only free for the fist year after release.

Hell, you only have to see it like once in Windows 8.1, even if you don't install a start menu. With Windows 10, the only place you'll see titles is the start menu, and you can easily remove them.

 

[Rezident]

Ah, but will Microsoft show that it actually cares about it's loyal customers and make Direct X 12 available for Windows 7? Or will MS yet again, spit in it's customers' faces and make it Windows 10-only?

I think we all know the answer to this question. MS will chose the money. It would be great if Satya Nadella really did change MS - the company that even the Financial Times says "lacks the consumer gene", he sounds like an amazing guy. But I wouldn't bet on it.

 

[Techhog]

Ah, but will Microsoft show that it actually cares about it's loyal customers and make Direct X 12 available for Windows 7? Or will MS yet again, spit in it's customers' faces and make it Windows 10-only?

I think we all know the answer to this question. MS will chose the money. It would be great if Satya Nadella really did change MS - the company that even the Financial Times says "lacks the consumer gene", he sounds like an amazing guy. But I wouldn't bet on it.

My guess is that MS is making Windows 10 only on the grounds that Windows 7 users can get Windows 10 for free... which is honestly tough to argue against unless you really just want to stick with Windows 7 forever.

 

[Kalmah]

My guess is that MS is making Windows 10 only on the grounds that Windows 7 users can get Windows 10 for free... which is honestly tough to argue against unless you really just want to stick with Windows 7 forever.

Somebody told me that xbox360 controllers don't work on windows 8. So if I upgrade my windows 7 machine in my living room to windows 10 are my controllers going to lose their native support?

How am I going to play GTA, Batman games, Lego games etc... ?

 

[sze5003]

Somebody told me that xbox360 controllers don't work on windows 8. So if I upgrade my windows 7 machine in my living room to windows 10 are my controllers going to lose their native support?

How am I going to play GTA, Batman games, Lego games etc... ?

My Xbox one and ps4 controllers work on 8. I need to use the ds4 tool for ps4 but the Xbox controller is recognized.

 

[Rhezuss]

My Xbox one and ps4 controllers work on 8. I need to use the ds4 tool for ps4 but the Xbox controller is recognized.

He asked about the 360 controller, which is a great question. I have one 360 controller and would hate to have to buy another one...

Glad to know though that the PS4/XB1 controllers work.

 

[sze5003]

I don't see why they would not work, you may need a driver installed but people with steam games and windows 8 have mentioned using a 360 controller.

 

[GrumpyMan]

Don't want Xbox anything in my OS, what now? Yeah, I know that answer already....

 

[sweenish]

Somebody told me that xbox360 controllers don't work on windows 8. So if I upgrade my windows 7 machine in my living room to windows 10 are my controllers going to lose their native support?

How am I going to play GTA, Batman games, Lego games etc... ?

Whoever told you that is an idiot, plain and simple.

Don't want Xbox anything in my OS, what now? Yeah, I know that answer already....

Ignore it. It's not being shoved down your throat with no other recourse. How many features of Windows are you currently ignoring out-right? A lot.

 

[KeithTalent]

I am on Windows 8 and used my wireless X360 controller to play Citizens of Earth on Steam for over two hours last night. I actually found the controller worked even better on Win8 than on Win7 after I upgraded.

KT

 

[destrekor]

Somebody told me that xbox360 controllers don't work on windows 8. So if I upgrade my windows 7 machine in my living room to windows 10 are my controllers going to lose their native support?

How am I going to play GTA, Batman games, Lego games etc... ?

I bought two Xbox 360 wireless controllers specifically to use with the wireless controller adapter MS sells for the PC. I don't even own a 360.

They work perfectly.

 

[bbhaag]

What's your solution for OTA? I've been wanting to get off WMC for the longest time.

I'd love to know if anyone has a solution for this too. I have a Hauppauge usb device that I use to capture OTA stations. The Hauppauge software that came with the device blows compared to WMC. If Win10 abandons WMC I might be stuck with 8.1 until I find a suitable replacement.

 

[PrincessFrosty]

Windows 10 will support streaming from an Xbox One. You can control the game with a controller hooked up to your PC (not sure if it requires the Xbox One controller), and you can even shut off the console through the app.

That wont have ANY security implications at all. *rolleyes*

 

[destrekor]

I'd love to know if anyone has a solution for this too. I have a Hauppauge usb device that I use to capture OTA stations. The Hauppauge software that came with the device blows compared to WMC. If Win10 abandons WMC I might be stuck with 8.1 until I find a suitable replacement.

OTA?

You don't need WMC for that. There are plenty of alternatives that work with non-DRM cable and OTA feeds. It's not even the CableCARD support that is exclusive to WMC, rather, the ability to handle the copy-once flag that can be set on content encrypted for CableCARD.

SageTV and BeyondTV are paid alternatives.

MythTV is a free Linux alternative.

NextPVR (formerly GB-PVR) is a free Windows alternative.

There are additional alternatives out there, but I'm not familiar with many. I've heard of MediaPortal, but I think it has limited support. It might work perfectly for OTA but not for CableCARDs.

Search for "free pvr" or "free dvr" and you should turn up a few lists and other discussions. There's a lot out there, some pretty good. Some, like MediaPortal and NextPVR, among others, can be turned into backends that serve content to Kodi (formerly XBMC), so that everything you do is on that interface.

Man, I really hate that my cable company utilizes copy-once for some channels, or even just specific content on any channel. You can't even use backend-style server software to throw content into another application. There is a plugin called ServerWMC that I never knew existed, but it won't give protected content to Kodi. Ugh. I hate this CableCARD nonsense. The cable industry needs to grow up.

 

[bbhaag]

Thanks man! I'll check out some of those names you listed and do a search "free pvr".

 

[mmntech]

Free upgrade? Crazy. When is the expected release?

KT

Free OS upgrades actually make a lot of sense. It gets everybody working on the same page. Developers can utilize newer technologies without having to worry about compatibility.

It's also good to see them finally unifying all their hardware under one roof. That's something that should have been done way back when Windows 8 launched. Xbox streaming integration is certainly cool. Fire up a game on your Surface.

 

[sze5003]

Free OS upgrades actually make a lot of sense. It gets everybody working on the same page. Developers can utilize newer technologies without having to worry about compatibility.

It's also good to see them finally unifying all their hardware under one roof. That's something that should have been done way back when Windows 8 launched. Xbox streaming integration is certainly cool. Fire up a game on your Surface.

And you can even link and turn off and on your Xbox from the PC. Meaning if someone is watching TV you just walk over pop in a disc and go back to the computer while the game loads up on the monitor. With all the streaming the Xbox can do regardless, I'm glad they finally decided to combine all this stuff.

 

[Chiropteran]

I demand windows 9

There is no Windows 9.

Didn't you hear? Seven ate nine.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Ah, but will Microsoft show that it actually cares about it's loyal customers and make Direct X 12 available for Windows 7? Or will MS yet again, spit in it's customers' faces and make it Windows 10-only?

Its loyal or its cheap customers? You're a customer as long as you buy stuff. They're offering a free upgrade from windows 7 and that will have DX12. Honestly how many windows 7 machine owners will opt to install a new DX12 video card next year?

 

[destrekor]

Ah, but will Microsoft show that it actually cares about it's loyal customers and make Direct X 12 available for Windows 7? Or will MS yet again, spit in it's customers' faces and make it Windows 10-only?

Its loyal or its cheap customers? You're a customer as long as you buy stuff. They're offering a free upgrade from windows 7 and that will have DX12. Honestly how many windows 7 machine owners will opt to install a new DX12 video card next year?

Honestly, at this point, I wouldn't doubt if the new enhancements to DirectX/Direct3D were also tied into important tweaks to the kernel. You won't see significant changes to a kernel happen to earlier OS's, just to add a feature developed long after that OS. They've changed kernels through Service Packs (or through point-releases like Windows 8.1). However, I would not see it in Microsoft's best interest to release a Windows 7 SP2 that created a schism of compatibility. And that's assuming that at some level of engineering, they could actually make that work, and I highly doubt it.

At best, perhaps a later release of Windows 8.2 could bring those changes and DirectX support, but this whole free upgrade routine is designed to prevent the need to create those kinds of hassles at the development level, both for MS and for third-party devs. Why do that when you can more easily encourage users to simply hop onto the latest version, especially at a rate previously unprecedented for Microsoft. That will spur development in ways previous changes to Windows never have achieved. That's best for us all, quite frankly.

 

[Mem]

Ah, but will Microsoft show that it actually cares about it's loyal customers and make Direct X 12 available for Windows 7? Or will MS yet again, spit in it's customers' faces and make it Windows 10-only?

I think we all know the answer to this question. MS will chose the money. It would be great if Satya Nadella really did change MS - the company that even the Financial Times says "lacks the consumer gene", he sounds like an amazing guy. But I wouldn't bet on it.

Why the hell should Win7 get DX12?..Win7/8/8.1 users will be getting Win10 for free in the first year anyway,every OS including Win7 is on a limited lifespan so get over it as they say.

Besides you would still need to buy a DX12 video card and game which would cost more then a new OS anyway.

Personally looking forward to Win10,since it's like Win8.1 with Start menu and some nice added features.