Windows 10 Anniversary Update
Back in February I done an article regarding an announcement made by Microsoft, they stated that the Xbox One will be getting Universal Windows 10 apps. If you want to read the article you can check it out HERE. Flash forward to today, and at its Build 2016 conference Microsoft shed a little bit more light on what we can expect to see on the Xbox One when the Anniversary Windows 10 Update arrives in the summer.
First up, is the news that every retail Xbox One can be turned into a development kit. This means that the console can be used as part of the process in creating Windows 10 apps and games. Xbox Dev Mode is available in preview form starting from today, changing to Dev Mode doesn't require any special new hardware or fees but to get the max out of it you will be required to set up a Dev Centre account, this costs around $19.
Now Dev Mode is available to everyone who owns an Xbox One but Chris Charla, director of Microsoft's ID@Xbox programme still advised people to wait till the Dev Modes full release in the summer as he said and I quote "You might run into some issues now". Putting your console into Dev Mode requires you to pair it with Microsoft's Visual Studio, which just sees the Xbox One as another Windows 10 device to send content to. Microsoft has warned that once in Dev Mode, you may run into some trouble running some retail games and that converting the Xbox One back to normal mode will require a total factory reset of the console, meaning that all games and apps have to be uninstalled and all saves will have to be retrieved from the cloud once the console restarts.
When Dev Mode comes out of preview in the summer it will allow you access to 1GB of RAM out of the 8 available on the Xbox One, but for the preview it looks like only 448MB will be made available to create Universal Windows apps and games. Also its my understanding that DirectX11 and not X12 will be supported for now but this could also change down the road. This was first mentioned way back in 2013 and it is certainly looks like Microsoft has made good on its promise to turn its console into Dev Kits for everyone to take advantage of. This is a very exciting prospect for budding coders out there, indie games are getting better and better as time goes on and by opening the Xbox One to the wild as it were, Microsoft might just unearth the next Minecraft or Rocket League. In my opinion this is a brilliant move, one that we all might see the benefit of in new games or funky apps in the future.
Next up is the news that Cortana, the Windows 10 assistant, very much in the same mould as Apple's SIRI, will also be making the move to Xbox One. Cortana works well enough on other Windows 10 platforms and the aim from Microsoft is to turn Cortana into your "personal gaming assistant". How much functionality Cortana will have with the Xbox One system is still unknown but I'm sure that asking which of your friends are online or inviting people to a party or game will be at its core, basically taking any need to press pause and stop playing out of the equation, the idea will be to let Cortana do the work for you. Also in order to actually ask questions of Cortana, the Kinect Camera will be required.
Last up here is a great feature that was very popular on the Xbox 360, Background Music. Time to get your playlists together folks for the summer when this lands. Honestly I can't believe its taken this long for this feature to be added but its finally here and it won't require you to snap an app for it to work but I do imagine that it will be linked to Microsoft's Groove Music in some way but hopefully its left pretty open ended so that you can line up whatever tunes you like while your gaming away.
Microsoft have promised more news regarding its Universal Windows 10 Apps at this years E3, and it certainly looks to me that they are doing as mush as it can with the Xbox One to try keep it as competitive as it can in the battle against the PS4, while also making sure that it remains a major component within the Windows 10 Family. But the problem for me is that while I have no issue at all with as many features as possible being crammed into the Xbox One, in the fight against Sony and its PS4 the problem is not features, its games and this is why in my opinion Sony has a 2 to 1 sales lead in this console war. Sony has always just put the PS4 as a games machine and their focus has been on that, while Microsoft, from even before the Xbox One was released has sent out a mixed message to its fans regarding the core function of the machine. This years E3 is massive for both companies, but it looks to me that Sony might edge it again, its got its new PS VR to show off and I'm sure other surprises too, Microsoft has to do something ground braking in my opinion to steel the lime light and I'm afraid for me, Xbox One Dev Mode aside, Universal Windows 10 Apps are just not going to cut it.