You’ll be able to play Xbox One games on any Windows 10 device.

 Microsoft takes a hop, skip and a jump to a new OS. Hell, it’s a whole new eco system...

Later This year we should see the final launch of Microsoft’s next operating system.  And  to  sweeten  the  deal, Microsoft is set to distribute Windows 10 gratis for the first 12 months for both Windows 8.1 users and Windows 7 folk. That last bit is important as it shows Microsoft is determined to pull  the  Win 8 naysayers from their Win 7 bolt holes.

Microsoft is also looking to create a unity between Windows 10 on the PC, phone  and tablet. And also on the Xbox. Yes, you read that right. Xbox. With a new pre-loaded Xbox app for Windows,  you’ll be able to connect to an Xbox One and play your console games on any Windows10  device. Of course, with our powerful gaming PCs, we’d be more interested  in doing it the other way around, taking our games into the living room with the Xbox console, so hopefully that will  also  be made an option.

Still, because MS is talking about streaming to any Windows 10 device, that means  low-power laptops, tablets and phones too. That’s the sort of unified setup  that  Microsoft has been chasing for years. Taking that even further, with the release of  Direct X 12, Xbox and PC gamers will be able to play together. The next Fable,  Fable Legends, has been revealed as allowing Xbox and PC gamers to enjoy the game together. Whether that will be limited to co-op games or open to competitive  multiplayer, CoD-style gaming too, is still unclear. The age-old problem of mouse-accuracy versus joypad sensitivity is always going to be a thorny subject.

And, as we’ve mentioned in the past, there is a Start menu for the new operating  system though with the new ‘Continuum’ system (the method for the OS to mold  itself to whatever device it’s running on) you can explode it to take over the whole screen for that Win 8 nostalgia. MS is also bringing its phone-y personal assistant,  Cortana, to the desktop. With Windows 10 then you can have a personal relationship with your PC that people aren’t  going to think is really creepy. And our offices will  be filled with people not just shouting at their computers, but having them shouting back too.