Windows 10 Coming to Xbox One "Post-Summer"

Windows 10 launches for PC sometime this summer, but the new operating system's integration into the Xbox One won't come until later. Now, Xbox boss Phil Spencer has shed more light on the release timing, saying Xbox One users can expect Windows 10 integration starting "post-summer."

That would put its launch at sometime in the fall at the earliest.

He revealed that release window on Twitter in an exchange with a fan who asked when the Windows 10 Xbox One beta would begin. Microsoft previously confirmed that Windows 10 functionality--like other new features--will come to Xbox One first through the Preview Program for the purposes of testing.

Features are typically tested for a month before launching publicly. The Xbox One's Preview Program is available by invitation only.

Microsoft announced back in January that Windows 10 would be integrated into Xbox One by way of a future update. Spencer assured fans at the time that when the Windows 10 Xbox One update arrives, it won't morph the games console into an enterprise-centric device.

How it will operate is unclear, and whether it will come with a dashboard rearrangement is not known.

"We won't see people using Excel on the Xbox, but Microsoft is making it easier to port experiences from PC over to Xbox where they make sense," Spencer said at the time.

Windows 10 on Xbox One will introduce a range of new features, including the ability to stream games to Windows 10 PCs. What's more, cross-platform play will be introduced, beginning with Lionhead's Fable Legends. This will allow Xbox One and PC users to play the RPG together.

Microsoft has major ambitions for Windows 10, recently projecting the new OS to reach one billion devices by 2018.