14 DAY TRIAL // With Windows 10, Microsoft is struggling to overhaul its platform not only for use with a mouse and keyboard but also for all the other activities that many of us do on a computer, including gaming, which continues to be extremely popular on PCs despite the huge growth of consoles.
And Microsoft knows this very well, so the company is now looking at some other companies on the market to make its operating system excel when it comes to gaming.
In an announcement at E3, Microsoft revealed that it partnered with Valve VR to turn Windows 10 into “the best platform for VR gaming,” thus trying to make sure that the new operating system is appropriate not only for traditional gaming with a mouse, a keyboard, and maybe a gamepad, but also with new devices, such as VR headsets.
Microsoft recently signed a deal with Oculus VR first of all to launch an Oculus Rift version with an Xbox One controller, and second of all to make it possible to play Xbox One games on Oculus Rift with a Wi-Fi streaming service.
The Valve VR challenges
Microsoft hasn’t talked too much about its partnership with Valve VR, but it’s easy to see where this is going, especially after the Oculus Rift announcement.
Basically, with Valve VR, Microsoft is trying to make it possible to play games on Windows 10 with Valve’s Vive headset, developed in partnership with HTC, using a similar streaming service that would employ the processing power of a PC to run the game and then stream content to the headset.
Just like with Oculus Rift, it should all be possible through a smooth experience in Windows 10, with Microsoft and its partners most likely struggling to make everything plug and play and eliminate any painful configuration process that could make it harder to benefit from such a device.
A VR device, however, can become a true resource hog, especially when playing games, so with Windows 10, Microsoft needs to make sure that everything will work as smoothly as possible.
Windows 10 will have the same system requirements as Windows 8.1, so making VR gaming possible on the default configuration is a priority in order to make this new plan succeed because investing in new hardware isn’t quite the kind of thing that many upgraders are looking to do these days.