Rumor: Microsoft could ditch the Windows brand after Windows 8

This week at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference, Andy Lees, Microsoft's president of the Windows Phone Division, said that his company would eventually have just a "single ecosystem" for PCs, phones, tablets, and even the TV. Microsoft has hinted at such a plan before, with its three screens and a cloud strategy, but never so explicitly.

"You can have full PC compute power available in whatever form factor you like," Lees said, point out that the Windows on ARM demo motherboards were smaller than mobile phones. "We won't have an ecosystem for PCs, and one for phones, and one for tablets — they'll all come together." Lees also said that Microsoft wants to provide "coherence and consistency" across different devices, "particularly with Xbox," and that the goal isn't just to share UI, but also core technologies like Internet Explorer.

This is my next believes that Microsoft is actually planning something far more radical, citing an unnamed source. Not only does Microsoft want to harmonize Windows for PCs and Windows Phone, but also the Xbox operating system sometime within the next four years. This timeframe lines up with both the end of the Xbox 360's 10-year lifecycle and the end of Windows 8's expected three-year cycle. In other words, Windows 8's successor may run on PCs, tablets, phones, and the next-generation Xbox when it arrives in 2015 or 2016.

Last but not least, Microsoft is supposedly considering ditching the "Windows" brand name in favor of something new. The idea is to rebrand its operating system with something that better fits with the company's vision of the future.

It does not at all surprise me that Microsoft wants to have the same OS, or at least some form of it, powering all of its products. Microsoft dropping the Windows brand, however, is something that I just can't wrap my head around. Of course, crazier things have happened, and a lot can change over the next few years, but I just can't picture it.

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Thank you : http://www.techspot.com/news/44705-rumor-microsoft-could-ditch-the-windows-brand-after-windows-8.html

Rumor: Windows 8 to play Xbox 360 games?

Take this with a grain of salt, but a number of sites are reporting today that the next version of Microsoft's desktop operating system, Windows 8, will let users play Xbox 360 discs on their PCs.

There isn't much information available at this point, and naturally many will be wondering why Microsoft would potentially cannibalize sales of its own console. But with Windows 8 still about a year away, and the company's next-gen console announcement expected in some form at E3 2012, the pieces could fall into place for a smart succession plan of Microsoft's gaming platform.

For one thing, the move would drastically increase the installed user base for the platform, allowing Microsoft to continue riding this console generation and profiting from game sales as it shifts focus to the next hardware update.

The next Xbox may or may not feature backwards compatibility. If Microsoft is developing some sort of emulator for Windows, I don't see a reason why the same functionality wouldn't make it to the 360's successor, but even if it doesn't Microsoft would be covering its back through this PC initiative by protecting people's investment in Xbox 360 games.

Microsoft has previously said it will relaunch PC gaming with Windows 8. The wealth of games that would come through this Xbox 360 integration could be a strong selling point for its next operating system, though hardcore gamers will certainly expect more than just being able to play console games with a mouse and keyboard.

According to the rumor, Xbox 360 on PC will require an Xbox Live Gold-like subscription service, but online gameplay will specifically prohibit cross-platform matchups to keep the playing field leveled. Take it for what it is: a rumor. But with that said, would you be interested in seeing Xbox 360 functionality on PCs with Windows 8?

Thank you : http://www.techspot.com/news/44644-rumor-windows-8-to-play-xbox-360-games.html