Xbox Live confirmed for Windows 8

By Jeffrey Van Camp September 14, 2011

Windows-8-xbox-live-confirmed — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Microsoft has confirmed what we’ve suspected for a few months now: Xbox Live is coming to Windows 8. In a post, the Xbox Live Major Nelson blog confirmed that Windows 8 will run Xbox Live, meaning you can consume Xbox content of all sorts–games, music, movies, and TV shows–on all Windows PCs and tablets. This likely means that Windows 8 computers will come with built-in ESPN, Netflix, and Hulu support as well.

We don’t know what this means for the future of the Zune software, Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, or other conflicting software, but we hope Microsoft will wrap them all into Xbox. For Windows Phone and Zune users, having to deal with Windows Media Player and the Zune software is a bit annoying. Hopefully, in its effort to reinvent Windows, Microsoft is making the hard choices and ridding itself of some extra baggage. Putting all media under the Xbox brand works for us.

This news fits perfectly with the leaked images of the upcoming Xbox 360 Dashboard upgrade that looks a lot like Windows 8. A Microsoft executive first leaked the Xbox Live integration in June, but no details have been released until now.

The current Windows 8 developer preview does not include Xbox Live, so we’ll have to wait to check it out, but the image above is an official shot of Xbox on the new OS. We’ll have hands-on impressions of Windows 8 soon, but if you can’t wait, check out the Microsoft Keynote from BUILD yesterday.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Jeffrey Van Camp

Former Digital Trends Contributor

As DT's Deputy Editor, Jeff helps oversee editorial operations at Digital Trends. Previously, he ran the site's…

Computing

Windows 11 vs. Windows 10: finally time to upgrade?

The screen of the Surface Pro 9.

Windows 11 is the newest version of Windows, and it's one of the best Windows versions released. At launch, the operating system was very similar to Windows 10, but it has morphed a lot over the past several years. Now, Windows 11 has several key differences compared to Windows 10.

If you've been holding out on upgrading, we have everything you need to know about Windows 11 and how it's different than Windows 10 in this article. We'll detail the differences, as well as show you the areas where Windows 11 is growing faster than Windows 10.
Windows 11 vs. Windows 10: what's new

Computing

How to back up Windows 11 and keep all your data safe

Windows 11 set up on a computer.

Your Windows operating system is more than just the building blocks of your PC's user experience — it’s a trove of precious memories, captured in videos, photographs, and songs. You probably have years of files that paint a picture of you, yours, and your way of life, so the last thing you’d want to happen is for these meaningful moments to disappear. This is why it’s important to learn how to create a Windows backup. And fortunately, we know a thing or two about carrying out this task.

Computing

Windows 11 24H2 or Windows 12? Here’s what’s coming soon

A laptop running Windows 11.

Windows 11 is more than a few years old and it is getting feature drops called "moments" every so often, as well as yearly updates. But what about the whole new Windows release that will come after Windows 11?

Earlier leaks from Intel and Qualcomm made mention of Windows 12, leading some to believe that Windows 12 might be in development at Microsoft and could come in 2024.