Posting from Anaheim: Microsoft today confirmed that its Xbox Live entertainment and online gaming service is coming to Windows 8, with a session on the topic scheduled for later this week at the company’s Build conference here.

The Seattle Times had sniffed out this news a while back, but it now appears that the company is preparing to go public with more details. It’s part of a broader expansion of Xbox Live across Microsoft’s platforms. Xbox Live is already available in limited form on Windows Phone.

Larry Hryb, aka Xbox Live’s Major Nelson, confirmed the news earlier today, along with the screenshot above showing the Xbox Live interface inside Windows 8. He writes:

Bringing Xbox LIVE to Windows 8 is part of our vision to bring you all the entertainment you want, shared with the people you care about, made easy.  At BUILD we are showing that it is easy for developers to create games for Windows 8 that take advantage of the power of Xbox LIVE.  We have much more detail to share about the capabilities of Xbox LIVE on Windows and look forward to the opportunity to do so in the near future.

Previously: This is Windows 8: Hands-on with Microsoft’s radically different operating system