Microsoft could once again be delaying dual-screen PCs like the Surface Neo, due to changes in the development of the next-generation Windows 10X operating system.
After a previous confirmation of a shift in development that prioritizes single-screen Windows 10X experiences, new rumors hint that the release for dual-screen variants of Windows 10X has been pushed to spring 2022, according to a report from ZDNet.
Microsoft won’t comment officially on the matter, but veteran Microsoft reporter Mary Jo Foley, citing internal sources, believes the move will allow Microsoft to debut Windows 10X on single-screen devices in spring 2021. These experiences will apparently not be for consumers, but rather for businesses. The dual-screen variant of Windows 10X, meanwhile, won’t be coming till spring 2022, a full year later.
The move could also mean that the current twice a year Windows 10 featured updates will be no more, ensuring Microsoft could prioritize Windows 10X. Instead, Foley suggests that Microsoft could possibly end up going with a once-a-year Windows 10 featured update schedule to allow engineering teams to focus on both Windows 10 and Windows 10X.
“I’m hearing from my sources. If that’s accurate, this would mean Microsoft will deliver Windows 10X releases in H1/spring seasons and new Windows 10 feature updates in H2/fall, moving forward,” said Foley.
The situation would create a complicated mess of updates moving forward. For instance, users would get the (regular) Windows 10 20H2 Update this fall, which has been confirmed as a minor update. Then the spring will bring the single-screen Windows 10X operating system release.
Foley still believes that in fall 2021, Microsoft will roll out a featured update for regular Windows, then follow that up with an updated version of Windows 10X for both single-screen and dual-screen devices. There’s also the possibility that some elements of Windows 10X will come to regular Windows 10, too.
Even though Windows 10X has been tested by developers and consumers in an emulator, there is still plenty of mystery surrounding it. Microsoft once said that the Windows 10 flavor would support Win32 apps like Google Chrome in containers, but that plan has changed, according to a report from Windows Central.
The first Windows 10X release might not support these apps, but will instead only run Universal Windows Platform and web apps downloaded through the Microsoft Store and the internet, similar to Windows 10 in S Mode. This would make Windows 10X more like a Chrome OS competitor targeting lower-end devices.
It appears, though, the move might come because the company is tweaking the virtualization experience by working on a Cloud PC Virtualization service known as Cloud PC, which will “provide business customers a modern, elastic, cloud-based Windows experience,” according to Foley.