Microsoft has announced that the rollout of the November 2018 Update for Xbox One consoles will start today. This update has been in testing with Insiders for about a month, and the headlining feature of the release is support for mouse and keyboard on the Xbox One, something which the company originally promised all the way back in 2015.
Support for mouse and keyboard is dependent on game developers, so you won"t see it in every title right away. Warframe was the first game to include it when the feature was made available for Insiders, and it"s joined by Fortnite in time for today"s release. During this month, Bomber Crew, Deep Rock Galactic, Strange Brigade, Vermintide 2, War Thunder, and X-Morph Defense will all support mouse and keyboard as well, and many other titles will join the fray in the future.
Microsoft has also partnered with Razer to release a set of "Designed for Xbox" accessories, which should offer the best mouse and keyboard experience on the console, including support for Xbox Dynamic Lighting. More information about these accessories will be coming at the Consumer Electronics Show early in 2019.
The release also brings many improvements to Alexa and Cortana on the console, starting with the Alexa skill launching for customers in the UK, albeit in beta form. Microsoft"s own assistant gets some improvements with easier pairing which is now done automatically when you ask Cortana to pair an Xbox. Additionally, you can use the voice assistants to completely close a game using the "Quit" command or even navigate the interface using navigation mode, which lets you use either Cortana or Alexa as a controller.
Coinciding with today"s release, Amazon is also releasing an Amazon Music app for the Xbox One in the United States, with more countries to follow in the near feature. You"ll be able to access over 50 million songs if you"re subscribed to Amazon Music Unlimited, as well as playlists and stations on the service. Amazon Prime members can listen to over two million songs at no additional charge through Prime Music, too.
Lastly, the Search experience on the Xbox One is expanding to include results from Xbox Assist and games you have “Ready to Install”. This also includes titles that you own as part of subscription services such as Xbox Game Pass and EA Access, making it easier to find the titles you"re looking for.
This update doesn"t bring quite as many big features as last month"s release, but support for mouse and keyboard has been a long-awaited feature for many users, so it"s definitely worth getting if you"re one of them. As mentioned above, the update will be rolling out to all Xbox One users starting today after a period of testing with Xbox Insiders.