Is xCloud – the Xbox game streaming service – a glimpse at the future of the desktop?

The advancements Microsoft will have to make to enable their xCloud gaming effort will benefit the virtual desktop effort as well. Here’s why that’s a good thing.

[gangsta_red]

Exciting times ahead!

[ilikestuff]

I want a handheld video game system that plays smaller versions of games I like. That’s the future.

[Spurg]

If they make a controller peripheral for the Surface Neo and Duo then it becomes a 3DS/Switch whic will stream games.
With the Surface Neo and Duo coming in 2020, im guessing that they are going to make that device the forefront of the of Xcloud.

[Mopedgames]

It should be obvious why giving that much control over to one corporation is a bad idea.

People think China has a restrictive system for the internet and computing in general. Imagine giving that much control and more to one corporation. The only good outcome of Microsoft forcing the desktop onto the cloud is that Linux might actually become the standard.

And imagine having to pay a monthly fee to Microsoft just to be able to use your computer, that's what your looking at here. This is the nightmare scenario for freedom of speech and freedom of the internet. Having to literally use a log in to use your computer that is directly tied to some kind of bank account.

[gangsta_red]

I've been playing games digitally for decades now. Exactly what dystopian future do you think will happen when you stream games?

"Imagine giving that much control and more to one corporation."

But there's multiple corporations doing this.

"And imagine having to pay a monthly fee to Microsoft just to be able to use your computer, that's what your looking at here"

You're already paying MS, Nintendo and Sony a monthly price to use multiplayer on their consoles.

"This is the nightmare scenario for freedom of speech and freedom of the internet"

Wait, what? Lmao, what just happened??

"Having to literally use a log in to use your computer that is directly tied to some kind of bank account."

Like, what we do now right?

[ApocalypseShadow]

He's not understanding the way Microsoft wants it. They turned Windows into a service. Having your Windows in the cloud means they are going to get paid for you using "your personal computer," storing everything you do, deciding what you can use and what you can see and what they can take away from you at any time. And with gaming, it would be the same: No ownership. Always connected.

Unless someone has stock in the company, why would a consumer want to own something that's reliant on an internet connection to use?

[gangsta_red]

I did read the article and it still has nothing to do with the points the OP brings up.

Free speech, logging into a device with your bank account information already stored, paying a fee for services?

These are all things that we are already doing, used to and will continue to do without question.

@kelly
"if Microsoft figured out a way to add a fee to play multiplayer games on PC"

Yes, more "what if's" and assumptions to add to the ever growing list of finding anything and everything to complain about MS.

@apocalypse

"No ownership. Always connected."

Yes, like every mobile device or PC you store information on the cloud with. Like most companies use and people on the go already using the cloud as a service. exactly what will happen that seems to have you all worried? Especially when everything you say can also happen today?

I keep reading these doomsday scenarios of when Skynet takes over and yet, it hasn't happened yet.

Also, it's funny to gloss over his free speech paranoid line.

[Christopher]

To be fair, cloud OS utilization will be very limited. No government workplace will allow it unless it's a completely closed off system under their control and no private business would do it because they don't want any other company to have access to their data, let alone at such a level.

Microsoft is offering something that really won't take off because the business sector won't utilize it due to data concerns.

[rainslacker]

MS wants to deliver their OS as a cloud based service, with any and all programs you can use on it "certified" to run on the OS, through the cloud. This isn't a hidden agenda, they spelled it out completely this was where they wanted to take things years ago. It wasn't obfuscated with fancy PR speak to make it sound like it was something different, but rather said that they want to deliver their OS on the cloud. It's no secret, and giving MS that much control would be a bad idea. Maybe not the Orwellian future stated above, but MS doesn't have a good history of not trying to control everything they touch, nor would they likely try to limit free speech, but the general principal of one corporation having that much control is kind of scary in general.

Chances are, they'll keep the regular windows around for a very long time, but MS doesn't care about making hardware, just that you are using their services and products in a way that allows them to decide when and where you want to use it.

MS may be making a lot of good consumer oriented moves in the console space....subjectively speaking even I can admit they do have some good things going....but don't think that what you love about MS and Xbox is in any way the way they handle the business at large. Because it isn't, and it's painfully obvious that many that praise Xbox or MS are completely oblivious to their general methods of operation.

@Chris

Most governments have already moved over to some Unix/Linux variant.

Businesses and regular consumers are the target for the cloud OS stuff. Businesses are already moving to cloud based services for productivity software, and have been for a long time. Adobe was the first to really go all in on such concepts. MS is has had Office and their enterprise software available for use on the cloud for over a decade now.

MS biggest obstacle is going to be getting clients that can run the cloud OS, because you need an OS to run the software to access the cloud service to begin with. Embedded hardware isn't going to catch on in the consumer market, and considering the devices most likely to be used for such things, they aren't going to have the best functionality for a web based OS. Commercial enterprise can use thin clients with embedded software, whose costs can easily recoup the cost of a service based platform which doesn't require exceptional costs for IT.

None of it will completely remove the normal OS market that we're used to, and MS will still make that avaialable for a long time to come. But they've been pretty transparent about cloud based services being their future....OS included.