News & Rumors: Xbox One (codename Durango)

[liquidboy]

Going forward, all three of Microsoft's operating systems will be lumped together into a single division, so as to share more technologies and components

Terry Myerson, current head of Windows Phone engineering, is now the head of the new Operating Systems Group at the company. Myerson is going to run engineering for the Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox operating systems. Anything that attaches directly to these OSes, such as Xbox Live, also reports into this new OS division. All of these OSes are currently running on a common "core" based on Windows NT

ref : Microsoft 3.0: A meaner, leaner devices and services machine?



There are economies of scale benefits when MS combines all it's coder resources into one division and code for ONE OS ... hence why a single OS that spans embedded/phone/tablet/desktop/server/cloud will mean MS don't waste valuable coding time on unique OS's anymore and MS will hopefully innovate faster

p.s. I would bet my last weeks salary that lots of the coding effort that went into Xbox One's architecture will make it into Threshold (Windows 10)

 

[AlNom]

Ah...

 

[Deleted member 11852]

Are Microsoft really admitting that their engineers are unable to co-operate and collaborate when it's with engineers in other divisions?

Jesus Christ!

 

[liquidboy]

Are Microsoft really admitting that their engineers are unable to co-operate and collaborate when it's with engineers in other divisions?

Jesus Christ!

the infamous Steve Synofsky made sure during his reign that collaboration between his WINDOWS division and other divisions (Xbox/Office/Server) was a far distant second to making Windows great ...

Numerous times ive heard stories of the Windows division derailing making changes to the Windows OS for the benefit of Windows Phone/Xbox etc ..

 

[liquidboy]

If you want a laugh, get a coffee and take a few minutes to read this MS developer account of his experience

"How can independent/unknown developers make better, decent, and far more superior applications than Microsoft?"

 

[Deleted member 11852]

If you want a laugh, get a coffee and take a few minutes to read this MS developer account of his experience

I've read about these issues before but I'm surprised they are still an issue inside modern Microsoft. What Microsoft seem to be admitting, is it is easier to reorganise everybody inside a big division to hide the barriers to collaborative working than it is to systematically fix the management, communication and decision making processes for product teams. Interestingly, this is quite similar to the problems Sony had - which Kaz Hirai publicly stated as wanting to resolve when he became CEO. I'm not sure their reforms worked either.

It's not even a problem endemic to large organisations. Occasionally I get frustrated working in Government but the ease with which you can cut through management and hierarchal boundaries in an organisation of almost a million individuals is nothing short of astonishing. I guess it's easier when you don't see others are competitors and there is no bottom line whipping at your arse.

 

[iroboto]

If you want a laugh, get a coffee and take a few minutes to read this MS developer account of his experience

"How can independent/unknown developers make better, decent, and far more superior applications than Microsoft?"

Good read. I agree on the Excel is probably a masterfully coded piece of work. A true workhorse that program. Lately I've been more interested in Microsofts offerings over Apple, this is rare considering how much I love OSX. But they seem to be doing something right now.

 

[Jwm]

Good read. I agree on the Excel is probably a masterfully coded piece of work. A true workhorse that program. Lately I've been more interested in Microsofts offerings over Apple, this is rare considering how much I love OSX. But they seem to be doing something right now.

Spoiler

They fired the Ballmer... IMO he was holding things back.

Question on the possibility of a streaming solution from PC to Xbox, or vice versa. Is WiFi Direct part of the puzzle (or hint)?

 

[iroboto]

So Windows 10 on Xbox is definitely happening. According to The Verge tweet here they are holding sessions right now with developers:
https://twitter.com/tomwarren/status/557289562817708033

I'm pretty excited for //b this year. Man, fingers crossed that I get to go.

edit: Tomorrow we'll hear more about it on the verge. I hope it's more in tune with universal apps. That might just pull me from the Apple ecosystem if this all works out right

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=148224929&postcount=1519

 

[Nesh]

i am sure that WIndows 10 on XBOX will give a very hard time for Sony.
Windows on XBOX will open up the console to possibly a swarm of functionalities and features that Sony wont be able to replicate

 

[DJ12]

Don't read to much into at the minute, it already has Windows 8 on it with none of these extra functionalities you are expecting.

If it does become a Windows box I might buy one though as my pc sucks big time lol

 

[JPT]

i am sure that WIndows 10 on XBOX will give a very hard time for Sony.
Windows on XBOX will open up the console to possibly a swarm of functionalities and features that Sony wont be able to replicate

Do you forse any cool stuff? Or got any needs?

Today I got a PS4 for games, a Minix Android STB for netflix, hbo and plex and my NAS for storage. I just can't imagine what I am missing out on.
I also got a Windows PC which got Win7 on, probably not been booted for about a year....

All other computer tasks are done on my Macbook Air, so I really do not get all the hoopla of apps on the console

Would be interesting to hear what others are missing and hope Windows will help with on the XB1, maybe I'll have to get an X1 then.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Today I got a PS4 for games, a Minix Android STB for netflix, hbo and plex and my NAS for storage. I just can't imagine what I am missing out on.

Having one box that does all those things. And then shares content seamlessly with other Windows boxes, so one console downstairs, one in your bedroom, and they can share your games library and run all media. And the option to get a more powerful PC to run the same games in better quality, or a tiny micro PC to run the same content and apps without needing a large box, let's say in the kids room.

 

[Michellstar]

Is it obvious, as Shifty said: because if you like, you can replace those devices with ONE box, hence XO

Mattrick dream vindicated from the graveyard

 

[turkey]

Having one box that does all those things. And then shares content seamlessly with other Windows boxes, so one console downstairs, one in your bedroom, and they can share your games library and run all media. And the option to get a more powerful PC to run the same games in better quality, or a tiny micro PC to run the same content and apps without needing a large box, let's say in the kids room.

Shares content, what if it can seamlessly assist with content?

The one thing I did wonder was cloud compute, the biggest issue most people have said was latency, given its just a resource why not use a local resource if available if it meets the set criteria. There are already Azure emulators for dev and test of services.

What if you could run a secure sandbox on a desktop in your house, lets say Win 10 contains provisions to allocate secured resources with a QOS, it registered itself with Azure/Live, meets whatever requirements are for some or all games.

you start a game on the console and it talks to Azure/Live and sees this current games cloud usage is possible locally, some clever key exchanges done with Azure acting as a broker to ensure trust to and from both the console and the sandbox. The game can then talk to the sandbox and you have additional local compute. Content would probably need to be sent from the console and encrypted in a per usage session to prevent tampering and also allow easy update via the console.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

So people are going to buy PCs and then donate them to everyone else to use? On their home connections? That'll drop bandwidth from the paltry tens/hundreds of megabits download people can have to the even more anaemic upload bandwidths; screw with fair use policies for those who have them; muck up local computer and internet users ("Mum, why is Netflix so bad?"); and be completely unreliable as you never know when the local server will disconnect and you'll have to migrate everything to another computer.

It's a concept with virtually no redeeming features, so not something people should be hoping Win 10 can provide.

 

[iroboto]

Now things are getting awkward. I've no ideas what MS is working on. It's safe to be conservative and expect only incremental improvements haha. I'll sit on that side of the fence for now.

https://twitter.com/TheKevinDent/status/557358809866178560

Heres sort of the twitter exerpt:

better gaming experience WAY BETTER!
"I have been pleasantly shocked by their ideas.
I am under NDA so I can't say much and I like that I am not sued."

"....and much much much more [then Windows 10 & DX12 to complete the puzzle to be revealed on Wednesday]"

"I think they have their swagger back! The vibe on campus is electric!"

Phil will be speaking at 9AM PST tomorrow, so I guess that is when we should be tuning in if you only want xbox news.

 

[Scott_Arm]

LAN distributed computing is way too niche.

I'm hoping, but not totally confident that Xbox One will get Universal Apps. I really hope it does. There's a lot of stuff I'd like to see. I'd love to be able to see calendar reminders on my phone, or use voice control to add stuff to my calendar and have it automatically sync to my phone. Cortana could be pretty powerful on a desktop computer or on Xbox One, especially if everything you do syncs between all of your devices.

There are a lot of cool things they could do. Cortana could remind me to go to bed early because I have a dentist appointment before work in the morning. Cortana could remind me I have a birthday party in a couple of hours, and with a press of a button could show me a map with directions. With Xbox being able to switch between apps so quickly, features like that could be very powerful, especially if all the information syncs to your other devices.

I know Microsoft would be able to pull me away from a lot of google services over to outlook.com very quickly

 

[iroboto]

Seems like the hype train is starting this is all really well timed, just like their month long discount timed with all their marketing supported games.
Xbox Live has been consistently having issues since Dec 24 leading up to today. So if Xbox Live and Windows is a thing, I very much hope for MS' sake that the service disruptions are a result of preparations for whatever they are announcing tomorrow.

Ori and the Blind Forest March 11. This is a definite pre-order! Ahh, made in Unity
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2015/01/20/ori-and-the-blind-forest-will-bend-your-brainor-break-it

Scream Ride March 3rd
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2015/01/...ollercoaster-tycoon-1-part-burnout-crash-mode

State of Decay April 28th
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2015/01/...r-one-survival-edition-release-date-announced

Some project B windows gaming headset rumblings:
http://www.zdnet.com/article/first-...in-february-key-to-microsofts-onecore-vision/

 

[turkey]

I am not sure I follow, I was thinking 1 to 1, as in my Xbox using resources on my pc on my lan. No external traffic coming in and not for multiplayer dedicated servers where eradicating poor quality consumer broadband (and dashboarding kiddies) is more important than cpu cycles. Anyhow who watches Netflix on a pc?

The reason it popped into my head was seeing Rainbow Six Siege footage again, I played Rainbow Six on the original xbox which had the option of using a separate xbox as your own dedicated server to increase player count, that is a new xbox; new copy of the game; and xbox live sub. If an xbox can do it, why not a pc.

If local resources exist why use remote?