There’s a brand new version of Windows on the way, and it’s going to change the way we deal with our computers – and even change our ideas about what a computer really is. Here’s everything you need to know Windows 10X as it stands now, and the devices compatible in 2021
The obvious place to start is with what Windows 10X actually is. This is not an upgrade of Windows 10 as such, but a variant specifically designed for dual screen and lightweight, inexpensive devices. Originally it would appear on the delayed Surface Neo, it seems to be the focus of Windows 10X moved for now more conventional, budget devices, with dual-screen support to be followed later.
And that may not be surprising. Supporting two linked screens instead of one is more complicated than you might initially think. The user might want two apps next to each other, or an app on the top half and a keyboard on the other side, or maybe a movie that only appears on one screen when the folding device is used in tent mode.
However, the new operating system can work easily one as well as two screens, which brings the benefits we are about toline. As we said, it now probably looks like traditional laptops of the usual suspects before moving on to more ambitious dual-screen projects.
G / O Media can get a commission
Windows 10X is more than a top layer for Microsoft’s existing software. It’s actually built on another new initiative called Windows Core OS, which is a basic, lightweight version of Windows (hence the ‘Core’) that can be easily customized for different types of devices and different form factors.
Windows Core OS makes Windows more modular and versatile, and to achieve this, some of the older, old-fashioned features that standard Windows had were examined for decades at this point. Eventually it will support Windows on every device, but it will take time. It’s currently running under Windows 10X Xbox X Series and Series S, and the HoloLens 2.
The development of Windows Core OS means that Windows 10X will not run traditional Win32 desktop applications when it appears in 2021. It means programs like Photoshop and Chrome are not available at first. What you will be able to perform are Microsoft staples such as the Edge browser and programs running from the Internet.
Eventually, Win32 support will be added, although these applications will run in a sealed container for security and performance reasons. When these programs are closed, they can not interfere with the rest of the system or affect battery life, which (in theory) would mean that Windows 10X will not be suffers from any gradual problems with slowdown and will be the case faster on less powerful hardware.
Old components such as the control panel and the hanging device driver on through a wire in Windows 10 will disappear in Windows 10X. The Start menu is cleaner and more streamlined, the taskbar centers icons rather than arranging them from the left, and the Action Center also gets a redesign (it does not look like the Control Center) now in macOS).
Like most Windows 10X, File Explorer is more web-oriented, with OneDrive even more tightly integrated than Windows 10. It’s a Windows that is a bit more like ChromeOS in some ways, and a bit more like Android in others, ris mainly turned off from the internet and designed to adapt to various screen sizes and indeed multiple screens.
User protection is enhanced by the changes made to Windows 10X, also. We have all mentioned old-fashioned Win32 applications running in their own virtual box, but it will be the same for other parts of the operating system – viruses and malware cannot access the system settings or the registry to cause damage.
Then there is the benefits of using a mobile dual screen device, similar to the benefits of connecting a second monitor on your laptop or desktop. You have more space to do everything, it is easier to use programs side by side, and it’s much easier to move files and objects between programs – drag and drop.
Microsoft was promising Windows 10X since late 2019, and with rumors of a Surface Neo Delay, it will be in the hands of consumers later than Microsoft originally wanted. We’ll see at least some Windows 10X products in 2021, well, with the education and enterprise markets first, and the consumer devices thereafter.
While Microsoft Surface Duo has already appeared, it uses Android, not Windows 10X. The Surface Neo, which will run Windows 10X, was promised by the end of 2020, but it seems that development on it has only just been interrupted – there were few official words from Microsoft, but those who know know that it may only appear in 2022.
As for Windows 10X, again there is little official news, but are sources suggests that it is close to being ready. In the next few months, we should see this imitation of Windows – a true modern version of the Microsoft operating system – in the wild.