Xbox Boss Wants Faster UI for Xbox One

Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft's Xbox division, has said that a more fluid Xbox One user interface is "high on the list of improvements we want to make."

The games executive revealed his ambition during a discussion with a fan on Twitter, who asked Spencer whether the Xbox One's system software would take advantage of the upcoming DX12 API.

"Yes, dashboard can take full advantage of [DX12] platform features," he replied.

"Speeding up the UI is high on our list of improvements we want to make."

DirectX 12, which was formally announced in March 2014, is the latest edition of Microsoft's system software that helps content creators extract more resources from hardware.

The practical outcome of this technology is that developers will, in theory, be able to demand more from Xbox One's GPU, CPU, and memory. In October, Spencer suggested that DirectX 12's effect would be subtle, not extensive.

"DX12 makes it easier to do some of the things that Xbox One's good at, which will be nice and you'll see an improvement in games through the use of DX12," he said.

"But people ask me, 'is it gonna be dramatic?' And I think I answered no at the time and I'd say the same thing [now], but it will ease development."

Since the Xbox One's release in late 2013, Microsoft has been deploying updates and improvements to the system on a monthly basis. The latest update implements tweaks to Party Chat, Achievement notifications, and more.