Increasingly what you think of Xbox will be a platform, not a console. From MS perspective their perfect world looks like this:

- As a gamer you own a PC, running Windows 10.
- Also as a gamer, you decide to put a console under your TV. Now, buying an Xbox instead of a PS4 will mean you only buy games once, and pick up where you left off when you move from your PC to your living room.

That's exactly what I was thinking. That Xbox itself has become more or less a box where you can play your WIN10 games and such. Well not just that. I think this is a brilliant idea.

Exactly. 

Whether Microsoft has left their run too late, I don't know. In the medium term I see them doing what Steam has done, and permitting other manufacturers to use the Xbox/Windows OS to make living room boxes.

People in general don´t buy consoles for exclusives, they buy them for convenience and brand recognition. And they will not loose money if they sell few consoles, they will loose money if they sell less software. Hardware doesn´t generate profit (unless you are Nintendo :)). How many of current PS4 owners do you think would be interested in buying or building a gaming PC for maybe 600-700$ instead of just buying a prebuilt home console that they just plug in and game on?

Microsoft slowly ditching the XB for PC is the best thing that Microsoft have ever done for gaming.. Now PC get more games to their ever-lasting growing libary.. (No offence to XB gamers)

If they only fixed that awful service on PC which are unbearable.
Also, People will not buy these games on PC unless it's fixed and DRM-free.
So in theory, Microsoft is losing money on this anyway, cause the majority of PC gamer's refuses to play with Microsoft until Microsoft delivers on their wishes as a consumer.

MS isn't ditching Xbox. Xbox is more and more becoming a service. Play where youw ant as you want.

Sony has been trying to do the same to some degree, but always a bit , sorry, halfassed. Playstation Mobile flopped hard some years ago because of terrible support. Playstation Now, again, lacks support from Sony and might be dead soon, again. Sony allows you streaming now, to non-Sony deiveces (Windows, Mac) but they're moving in a bad position for a world where the actual devices won't matter.

On the other hand, Microsoft has to make their Windows store attractive at least for the average PC gamer. Right now it's not so much.

So, it's about bringing people to play on your service. In my case that would be consoles. I'm not interested anymore in building another gaming rig. I don't care that much for game prices. And my laptop is just for the old PC stuff.

nice thing about PC gaming is no more Xbox Live subscriptions. Multiplayer is always free.