HAPPY BIRTHDAY WINDOWS 10

Major update brings your Xbox games to your PC for free

THIS AUGUST, WINDOWS 10 gets a major free update for its birthday, and it’s a pretty big one, with everything from a new theme and emoji, through to extensive updates to core applications. One major new feature that got a lot of people excited at E3 was Xbox Play Anywhere. Under this, when you buy a compatible PC or Xbox game, you’ll get both versions by default. Saved games are accessible on both systems, and you can pick up where you left off on either machine—one game on two machines.

Initial excitement was damped down a little when it emerged that not every title from Microsoft Studios will be compatible, and cross-platform multiplayer support isn’t a given. However, some heavyweight titles are coming to the party, including Gearsof War4 and HaloWars2. Xbox Play Anywhere is scheduled to launch on September 13, and there are currently 13 compatible titles.

Other significant Win 10 upgrades include those to Ink and Cortana. Both get much better integration with apps and devices, and a host of smart features. Draw a line on a map, and it’ll calculate the distance; create a path, and you can ask Cortana to send it to your phone, for example.

Edge finally gets browser extensions, and the Start menu has been redesigned yet again, with more “suggested applications” (not so welcome). Many of the updates are aimed at improving integration with your phone, including neat touches such as pop-up warnings about low battery. You can also answer phone calls on your PC, and use Hello to unlock your PC from your phone. Oh, yes, and there’s Linux Bash shell for developers. Microsoft claims that it has listened to suggestions and added features people wanted. It has also updated Windows Update, which is going to see a lot of use soon.