The dual-screen Microsoft Surface Neo touch-based laptop won’t arrive until 2022, according to a new report claiming Microsoft is pushing back the launch of its Windows 10X software until next year.
The tenured ZDnet reporter Mary Jo Foley’s sources say Microsoft is now planning to launch Windows 10X for single-screen devices in the spring of next year, with dual-screen devices planned for the first half of 2022.
Windows 10X, which is also commonly referred to Windows 10 Lite, promises a simpler interface with apps separated out from the main operating system. Instead traditional apps will run in a container, separately from the opening system. It promises faster access to updates with improved battery life and, thanks to those isolated apps, improved security.
Microsoft had originally planned to latch the Surface Neo, which has a secondary screen above the traditional keyboard, before the end of 2020, but a delay until 2022 would be massively significant. The report fits with previous comments from Microsoft on a Windows 10X pivot amid a dramatic shift in people working from home.
Related: Surface Book 3
Back in May Microsoft revealed it was refocusing the launch of the Windows 10X – primarily built to serve the new sector – to ensure the demands of customers with single-screen devices are being met. The company said it will now look for the right moment to launch the dual-screen device, but for now the priorities have shifted to existing hardware.
Today’s report also adds weight to previous claims Windows 10X won’t be able to run Win32 apps at launch, with only web apps and Universal Windows Platform apps supported from day one. Foley predicts that the first version of Windows 10X will be updated in spring of 2022 with the support for dual-screen devices.
The Surface Duo, dual-screen smartphone, was not mentioned in today’s report. Since it uses Android as its operating system instead of Windows 10X, its ‘Holiday 2020’ release date is seemingly unaffected. However, this is 2020, after all…
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