Microsoft’s on the, erm, threshold of something big — something that’s likely to make its three major operating systems even more similar. Queen of Microsoft leaks Mary Jo Foley has caught word from some unnamed contacts that the next major update to the Windows family is codenamed ‘Threshold.’ That name comes from an internal email from EVP Terry Myerson. The codename reportedly covers updates to Windows , Windows Phone and the Xbox One operating system , bringing even more commonality to the three OSes. The Threshold is title more than just a big abstraction — it’s actually borrowed from the original Halo game, following the Cortana codename the company adopted for its forthcoming personal assistant offering. Among the shared, cross-OS features are single, unified app store and tool sets designed to further entice developers to create applications for all three. Naturally, none of the higher-ups at Microsoft are confirming the existence of Threshold yet, but Foley’s projecting a spring 2015 release for the upgrades. Filed under: Cellphones , Desktops , Gaming , Laptops , Tablets , Software , Microsoft Comments Source: ZDNet

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Next Windows release reportedly codenamed ‘Threshold,’ set to further unify Microsoft operating systems

Assuming Steam’s user base is still around the 65 million mark, as Valve reported at the end of the October , over 10 percent of the gaming platform’s patrons were logged-in at the same time yesterday, setting a record in the process. More than seven million people were online simultaneously, which is roughly a million above the peak login record Steam hit around the same time last year . While that number might be fact, whether it holds any meaning is altogether harder to deduce. Is this indicative of a surge in PC gaming? Well, we’d need way more stats to make that kind of claim, as fluctuations in the user base of huge non-Steam titles like World of Warcraft , League of Legends and Starcraft 2 to name a few, surely play a part in that discussion. One could also hypothesize the record shows PCs holding firm following a few recent, rather high-profile console launches , but these Steam users may also have new black boxes in their living rooms. Not that we think there’s anything better than killing a lazy Sunday playing Dota 2 , but perhaps the number of concurrent logins were just a bunch of people who thought to check Steam for one last bargain . Who knows, maybe it was aliens? With Valve getting ready to flog its own hardware and OS , though, we know at least one person that’s seen seven million and hasn’t stopped rubbing his hands together since. Filed under: Gaming Comments Via: GamesIndustry , PCGamesN , NeoGAF forums Source: Steam stats

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Steam sets a new record as over 7 million gamers log in at once