xbox games on windows 8.1

can you use a joystick controller for Xbox games on windows 8.1 and if so what controller do I buy?
I"m kinda new to xbox on pc and am not sure what controllers the games will work with ...

I would imagine controller support is based on if the application supports it or not so it may vary application to application on whether it will support joystick or game pads. Personally I have always been a big fan of logitech products as the ones I have install the drivers the moment I plug them in. If you want a game pad and you do not want logitech then you could use a xbox 360 controller and xbox one controller support on the PC is supposedly coming soon this year.