by
William D’Angelo
, posted 1 hour ago / 228 Views
Microsoft VP of Next Generation Jason Ronald speaking with The Verge stated Microsoft is looking to combine the Xbox and Windows experiences together and to expect changes to come this year.
“I would say it’s bringing the best of Xbox and Windows together, because we have spent the last 20 years building a world-class operating system, but it’s really locked to the console,” said Ronald. “What we’re doing is we’re really focused on how do we bring those experiences for both players and developers to the broader Windows ecosystem.”
Ronald is aware of the issues with Windows working on handhelds.
“We’re focused on really simplifying that and making it much more like a console experience,” he said. “Our goal is to put the player and their library at the center of the experience and not all the [Windows] work that you have to do today.”
Ronald added, “I think we’ll have a lot more to share later this year. I think it’s going to be a journey and I think you’ll see a lot of investments over time that you’re starting to see already, but we’ll have a lot more to share later this year.”
Microsoft’s goal is to make Windows a great place for gaming on any device.
“I think, at the end of the day, our goal is to make Windows great for gaming on any device,” said Ronald. “The reality is the Xbox operating system is built on top of Windows. So there’s a lot of infrastructure that we built in the console space that we can bring to the PC space and really deliver that premium gaming experience on any device.”
Ronald admits Windows was not designed to work with a controller and only really works well with a keyboard and mouse.
“There’s just certain things in Windows that were not designed for if you don’t have a keyboard and mouse, like thumbstick support or joypads and stuff like that,” he said. “There’s fundamental interaction models that we’re working on to make sure that regardless of the operating system details it feels very natively like a gaming-centric device and a gaming-centric experience.”
The goal according to Ronald is to have the Xbox experience at the center and “not the Windows desktop that you have today.”
A life-long and avid gamer, William D’Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
More Articles