Microsoft is currently planning a large-scale update for its three primary multimedia platforms, according to a report from tech analyst website ZDNet. Codenamed Threshold, a tip of the hat to Bungie’s Halo universe, the alleged update is set to bring Windows OS, Windows Mobile and the Xbox One under one, unified operating system. Mind you, it’s worth keeping in mind that this doesn’t signify the all-new iteration of Windows operating system.
Though it remains unconfirmed at this time, the convergent concept is in line with what Steve Guggenheimer, Microsoft’s vice president of DPE group (Developer & Platform Evangelism), suggested earlier this year about blurring the lines between the Windows 8 OS and the Xbox One.
“Xbox one has two engines,” he said at the time, “it’s got a gaming engine and it essentially has a Windows 8 engine. Nothing to announce today, but when I talk about that common core you’re seeing that common core in action, being able to target other devices over time that run the Windows 8 engine.”
It’s understood that the Washington-based company is working to bring a unified app store to its electronic ecosystem, too, which is slated to launch in the early stages of 2014. In effect, this would allow users to access Microsoft’s library of applications from an array of platforms, including PC, the company’s Surface tablet or the Xbox One.
At present, Microsoft’s devices share a common, Windows 8-based architecture, though Threshold is designed to implement a sense of synergy between the like-minded platforms. As a result, the aforementioned, ubiquitous app library will include ‘decision/expression programs’ and ‘decision making/task completion’ such as Office and Bing, for instance.
Currently, the software is planned to release across the various devices in Spring 2015, and though Microsoft refused to comment on rumour and speculation (surprise!), we’ve already seen the commonality between the company’s devices through the Xbox One’s Windows-esque home screen.
What do you make of this alleged concept? Does Microsoft’s nascent framework for Threshold sound appealing? Let us know your early impressions below.
