Geeks of the world will know very well already that Microsoft are about to conclude their BUILD conference, which heavily focuses on courting developers from all walks of life and how Microsoft’s products can make the world a better place. This year, Microsoft have a lot of things that developers should be celebrating. The vision of unifying their operating systems and devices and creating a truly cross-platform experience is nearly complete. For Windows users, this is a great thing to know and understand because it’s something that Apple’s CEO Tim Cook publicly criticized prior to Windows 8’s launch back in 2012. Then, Cook said that bringing together devices under one OS would (basically) never work. Microsoft don’t think so and it’s probably a good thing that they don’t buy into Apple’s philosophies of segregated OS platforms (being iOS and Mac OS) because things are about to take a giant step forward in the world of Windows, especially for those that own or will own an Xbox One.
According to the discussions held at BUILD 2014, Microsoft are drawing together their Windows Store app hub from multiple platforms which exists on Windows 8 and Windows RT and making the code and design language multiplatform, meaning developers will be able to make an app on WinRT and with nearly no effort cross it over to Win8. This is something that isn’t as typical since developers usually have to rebuild from scratch or at least do heavy modifications to their apps when jumping platforms, even if they’re related platforms. This has been Microsoft’s promise since 2012 when they began discussing what they wanted Windows 8 to become. Where gamers that own an Xbox One benefit is in the same area.
As it stands, the Apps section on your Xbox One’s dashboard is a bit meager for selection but is expected to gradually grow. Like the Xbox 360, the Xbox One will offer a slew of apps for media entertainment, social interaction, and news. But the devil is in the details when you look at the software on the Xbox One, which actually runs a Windows core that is very similar to the same Windows 8 core you are likely using if you purchased a new PC in the last 12-18 months. According to those speaking on behalf at Microsoft at BUILD, the Xbox One will be able to receive many of the apps that are being released in the Windows Store before long. This means that apps like Pandora, Spotify, Mail, NBC Sports, Twitters, HERE Maps, etc. could all eventually cross over onto the Xbox One. That should blow your mind because this would be the last nail in making the Xbox One a PC. The only real difference is the openness of the Xbox One and the content availability as Microsoft are allowed to mediate what goes on their platform(s). Still, the potential for hundreds (or maybe thousands?) of quality apps being accessible from your Xbox One is a huge reason to be happy. You can use IE11 already on your Xbox 360 and One so it only makes sense that Microsoft would continue to quietly make a full media center PC without specifically designing a desktop computer.
Microsoft weren’t specific on the rollout of the new OS updates that would tie everything together with greater strength and when apps could potentially start hitting the Xbox One platform, but we could expect it as soon as late summer or early fall since other new APIs like DirectX 12 will begin rolling out roughly around the same time. For you app developers, Microsoft rolled out the unified Windows App Studio Beta just a little bit ago and is available for app developers to play with. It’s available directly from Microsoft’s Windows blog.
Xbox One Game Source 