I’d love to do some testing and see the limits of the Xbox licensing system. Does the latest OS allow you to put a disc into an offline Xbox? Does the license transfer when that Xbox comes back online and the disc is not inside? or is the physical disc inside the console what causes a license transfer?

Back when Xbox Live went down, I did some testing on what could launch and what couldn’t for both Xbox One and Series X… and I was really surprised at how integrated the OS was to the internet. It really seemed like there is a local and internet check for launching a game. And plenty of license caching.

Overall this digitization of physical media sounds nice, but I’ve pointed out before… this was the original idea behind the Xbox One. Internet check-ins for every disc don’t sound so evil now that we’ve slid so far downhill.

According to DoesItPlay.org, only 13% of PS4 games required a download to play. When you look at PS5, it’s only 17% requiring download.

Microsoft actually implemented the opposite of your described sharing method recently. When you first put in physical media, you are allowed a digital download of that until that disc is put into another Xbox, where the license is immediately transferred.

I know my pre-COVID office had a floor of nearly 200 engineers, and only 3 women.

Regardless of policy, bias is going to happen at that scale, usually not in favor of the women. Honestly makes me sad how tough it must be.

That’d be a very Google move.

“Android devices will continue to receive regular updates and security patches through mid-2027, after which some devices may be eligible for ChromePhoneOS (no you cannot install apk files in ChromePhoneOS stop asking)”