Xbox One will run Windows 10 apps starting this summer - CNET

Later this summer, Xbox One owners will finally be able to run Windows 10 apps.

Jason Ronald, principal group program manager for Microsoft Game Studios, revealed the Xbox One's upcoming support for Windows 10 universal apps at this week's Game Developers Conference, Business Insider reported on Thursday. Further, Microsoft will merge the Xbox Store and the Windows Store into a single virtual shopping place, so customers will be able to download apps for the Xbox One and Windows 10 from the same place.

Bringing Windows 10 and the Xbox One together is a continuation of Microsoft's push to get all of its products onto a single platform. Microsoft wants to get Windows 10 into as many hands as possible, and offering this bridge could convince Xbox One owners to upgrade to the new operating system. The move comes as major tech companies such as Apple and Google jockey to power your gadgets with their software.

On the flip side, Microsoft wants to create greater demand for the Xbox One, which for the past couple of years has seen its sales trounced by those of Sony's PlayStation 4.

The Xbox One is part of Microsoft's "universal apps" strategy, under which developers can more easily create games and other apps for one platform and then tweak them to run on another platform. For example, a developer could create a game once using a core programming code and then easily modify it to run on a Windows 10 PC, a Windows 10 mobile device and on the Xbox One.