http://www.pcgamer.com/windows-10-leaked-build-reveals-new-xbox-app/

Some outlets are reporting a leak that informs us that Windows 10 will feature an Xbox app which allow users to log in to the entire "Xbox ecosystem" (achievements, friends lists, activity feeds, etc.). Do you think that this will be genuinely useful or just some gimmick to help sell Windows 10? There may be more about this that we don't know yet but what's your first reaction? Have Microsoft released Xbox apps on Windows before? I don't remember. I've never had an Xbox so find it difficult to make a judgment on this so I would be interested what others have to say on this.

P.S. I searched the forums before posting this to check if anyone else had already posted about this. I couldn't find anything but apologies in advance if they have.

It's the new Games for Windows Live? That had cross platform friends lists and achievements too.

I hope it stays limited to that and doesn't turn into yet another GFWL. Microsoft has vowed to support video games MANY times over the years and it has been a disaster pretty much every single fucking time.

Have the achievement points carry over, have your friends list/chat work but holy shit do not create another client.

I do wonder if this is another case of MS threading a fine line of illegal practices (certainly in Europe) by packing in stuff that connects to their other stuff. They have been charged for packaging Internet Explorer before.

I hadn't thought of that. Microsoft were forced to include a "Browser choice" shortcut for European copies of Windows. It was deemed unfair from a market standpoint for them to include Internet Explorer in Windows without any mention of other browser competitors. So would you say that this Xbox app is a competitor to Steam for example?

It looks like an evolution of their SmartGlass app to me. SmartGlass is pretty great, especially for sending/receiving messages without having to futz about in the Xbox UI.

@djames216: I doubt it will be a problem in this case but yeah. Pack-in software can be a tricky business.

Maybe i'm missing more information, but they really think it's illegal that Microsoft packages it's own browser in it's OS? That sounds odd. Almost like villainizing Google for not allowing another browser on ChromeOS.

Anyway, a new Xbox App would be neat on Windows 10. Their current integration isn't really that great, and I would guess that Xbox One having a more robust system probably allowed them to have the room for this on the new OS.

@nasher27: Basically there are restrictions on "tying" and packaging things together. I mean don't you think it's kind of creepy/annoying that you can't really uninstall Internet Explorer from your computer when you are running Windows?

I can't ever see myself using this, but it seems like it'd be really cool/useful for a select group of people. I don't think that particular group of people is large, but whatever.

And boy, those comments perfectly sum up everything wrong with a sizeable portion of the gaming audience today.

The European powers-that-be basically thought that Microsoft was monopolising the browser market by including IE in the Windows install. They also thought that this gave Microsoft an unfair advantage over their competitors. Not everyone who uses a PC is tech savvy and will just use whatever they are presented with without shopping around. I kind of understand where they are coming from but it's a complicated subject when you start digging.

There already is something like this available for Windows 8, this is not new. It's called Games. You clikc it and can go see your friends, achievements, the store, etc. Adding the feeds and stuff is a no brainer since the X1 has it and the Games app is built obviously around the 360.