Windows 10 to Ease Cross-Dev with Xbox One

Windows 10 will eventually be pushed to all Xbox One consoles, enabling support for the same applications to run on the console, PCs, tablets, and phones. A unified Windows Store will distribute these applications, called Windows Apps, across Windows 10 devices and Xbox One. The changes will expand the audience for Windows Apps and could encourage developer adoption of the Windows Apps platform, perhaps making it more viable for consumer-facing corporate applications. However, the Xbox One installed base is small compared to that of Windows, so its influence could be limited.

Windows Apps Work on Windows 10 and Xbox One

Microsoft introduced its Universal Apps strategy in Apr. 2014 to reduce the effort required to build an application that runs on multiple classes of Windows devices, such as PCs and phones. Developer tools enable this strategy for Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1, and Microsoft promised that the strategy would be extended to the Xbox platform.

Windows 10 will fulfill that promise for Xbox One, enabling the console to run Windows Apps that also run on other Windows 10 devices. (The term “Windows App” will supersede previous terms for applications that use Microsoft’s latest user interface and Windows Runtime (WinRT) APIs. These terms have included “Universal,” “Windows Store,” “Modern,” and “Metro.”)