Skip to main content

Xbox One to get Windows 10, Xbox 360 backwards compatibility on November 12

If you haven’t already found a reason to buy an Xbox One, that reluctance might change come November 12. That’s because, as the glorified face of Xbox, Phil Spencer, revealed today, the ‘New Xbox One Experience’ will arrive on that date.

A few lucky candidates enrolled in the Xbox One Preview program have already had the opportunity to toy with the new, Windows 10-inspired interface. Some features, however — such as the ability to format external hard drives — were lagging behind the original Xbox One OS. Hopefully Microsoft can massage some of those issues out by middle of next month.

Recommended Videos

Since its release nearly two years ago, the Xbox One’s user interface has remained largely unaltered. And, while you can say the same about the PS4, navigating the Xbox One UI has been more troublesome than its nearest competitor, as it was originally designed with the Kinect in mind. Now that Microsoft, as well as everyone else, has all but forgotten its hands-free control schemes of yesteryear, the new interface promises a more controller-friendly experience.

For the most part, it’s aesthetically similar to the Xbox app on Windows 10 PCs, albeit clearly optimized for larger displays. While the “Modern UI” tiles are still an ever-present force in the way you navigate the Xbox One, some of the pain has been alleviated with a task bar on the left-hand side, making menus and settings easier to find.

Another thing to look forward to on November 12 is backwards compatibility for Xbox 360 games. While the Xbox One can already run a few last-gen titles on its PC-like architecture, over 100 classics will be supported in just a few weeks.

As GameSpot reported in July, the most requested games list for backwards compatibility on Xbox One was littered with shooters, including many from the Call of Duty series. It is, however, still unclear as to which games will be made available when this feature hits next month.

As for other fundamental changes to the Xbox One infrastructure, Microsoft’s virtual assistant AI, Cortana, was supposed to make its way to Xbox One in this major update. Unfortunately, earlier this month the addition of Cortana was delayed until 2016. When she does arrive next year, though, Xbox One owners will be able to communicate with Cortana using either Kinect or, more likely, a mic-enabled headset.

While it’s disappointing that we still don’t know much about backwards compatibility and we won’t be able to use Cortana in this update, it is refreshing to see a much-needed, revitalized user experience on Xbox One — and just in time for the new Tomb Raider.

Gabe Carey
Former Digital Trends Contributor
A freelancer for Digital Trends, Gabe Carey has been covering the intersection of video games and technology since he was 16…
Windows 11 is cleaning up one of the messiest parts of Windows 10
Windows 11 updates are moving to once a year.

Windows 11 is still being beta tested by Microsoft, and that means there are tons of improvements on the way for the operating system. One of those improvements involves cleaning up the context menus, which have always been a mess in Windows 10 and older versions of Windows.

More commonly known as the "right-click menu" the context menu in Windows 11 brings many new improvements over the one currently found in Windows 10. The first involves putting common commands for copying and pasting right where the menu is invoked. A second change makes things so that Open and Open with are grouped together when you right-click a file.

Read more
This awesome Xbox gaming feature is coming to both Windows 11 and Windows 10
Xbox Series X expansion card in console.

When Microsoft announced several Xbox features coming to Windows 11, it said that DirectStorage would only be available on the upcoming operating system. A recent DirectX developer blog post says otherwise. Some developers already have access to DirectStorage on Windows 11, which will also work on Windows 10 machines.

The blog post details that Windows 10 machines running version 1909 or newer will be able to use the DirectStorage feature. This is an application programming interface (API) that Microsoft debuted with the Xbox Series X and Series S. Essentially, it bypasses the processor to quickly load data into the graphics card, which can decrease load times and allow developers to push more impressive visuals.

Read more
How to fix sound problems in Windows 10
Man wearing headphones and looking at monitor.

Whenever you update to the latest version of Windows 10, you can find cool new features and fixes. Unfortunately, big updates can bring with them new problems, and some of the most common are audio-related.

 

Read more