Microsoft has confirmed that while Gears of War will not support cross-platform play between the Xbox 360 and PC versions, anybody who purchases the latter edition will be play it on Windows XP as well as their newest operating system, Windows Vista. Goody!

Gamerscoreblog also reports that, "the PC version of Gears of War achievements are separate from the Xbox 360 version. That means you can get a 1250 Gamerscore from the Xbox 360 Gears of War, and an additional 1000 Gamerscore from the PC version!" No, actually, that means Microsoft wants you to buy two copies... and we know you want to.

If you need any extra incentive to top up the already-bulging pockets of Microsoft and Epic Games, the PC version of Gears of War features additional multiplayer maps and game modes, a game editor, and five new single-player chapters.

If you're an Xbox 360 owner holding on for the same content, GamerSquad comes bearing bad news. Epic Games' Mark Rein told one interviewer at the recent E3 Media & Business Summit that any such downloadable patch would likely be bigger than the five collective game downloads that have already made available for the console to date.

Gears of War will be released on the PC later this year.