Xbox One is getting a major overhaul today - here are all the changes
The Xbox One is getting a new interface, powered by Windows 10. Here's what it looks like.
Compare that to the current Xbox One home screen, which looks like this:
The Xbox One will be up to 50% faster than it was prior to this major update, according to Microsoft.
In the new Xbox One experience, double-clicking the Xbox button on your controller brings in a panel from the left side that can show online friends, notifications, Xbox parties, or settings.
You can even access these quick options from any game you're playing.
At the bottom of the new Xbox One homescreen, you'll see all your favorite "pinned" games and apps in a section called "Collection."
Xbox has merged everything about your friends and what's trending on Xbox Live into a single "Community" tab, which showcases what Xbox Live players are achieving at that very instant.
The most important change is the addition of Cortana. Now, if you say "Hey Cortana," you can record gameplay, check if people are online, and invite people to Xbox Parties.
Cortana also understands complex commands, like if you only want to record the last minute or two of gameplay and immediately share it to your activity feed.
Interface improvements aside, the new Xbox One Experience also adds backwards compatibility for select Xbox 360 games.
Any games you bought digitally on the Xbox 360 will automatically show up in your Xbox One collection.
Old save files also transfer over. As long as you save any progress from your Xbox 360 games in the cloud, the Xbox One will automatically pull that saved game data and you’re ready to play.
If you own a physical copy of a game that's in the backwards-compatible catalogue, slip the DVD into the Xbox One the console will download the correct version from Xbox Live.
You’ll have to put the disc in the drive every time you want to play that game on Xbox One. The same goes for any downloadable content or expansion packs you may have purchased.
Xbox 360 games carry over to the Xbox One, but so do achievements from those games. You can still unlock the rest of the achievements you didn't unlock before.
You can also access the old Xbox 360 guide on Xbox One, including all those old features like creating a party.
Xbox 360 games benefit from the Xbox One: Now you can use take screenshots or use the “Xbox, record that” voice feature to record and share gameplay.
If you're an Xbox Gold member, starting in November, Xbox One owners will be able to download any free Xbox 360 games available that month, in addition to the free Xbox One games.
Above all, though, adding Windows 10 to Xbox lays the foundation for more meaningful changes and updates in the future.
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