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Microsoft Windows 10X reportedly paused to focus on Windows 10 enhancements

The ill-fated Surface Neo running Windows 10X

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A report suggests that Microsoft will not release Windows 10X in 2021, and the version originally shared "will likely never arrive."

Announced in 2019, Windows 10X was meant to be the next step in Windows design that ditched legacy components in favor of new technologies. The ambitious project was soon delayed and now may never see the light of day.

According to a report from Petri, people familiar with the Microsoft's plans state Windows 10X will not ship in 2021, and the OS as you know it today will likely never arrive. Microsoft has shifted its resources to improving Windows 10 and pushed the other project to the back burner.

Microsoft announced Windows 10X alongside the Surface Duo and Surface Neo — dual screen devices that showcased the future of Windows. The Duo shipped in 2020 with Android as planned — and the Neo was never released.

Windows Central confirms the report and says that Microsoft had in fact halted Windows 10X internal self host testing in February. All focus has shifted to Microsoft's "Sun Valley" Windows 10 UI refresh due later in 2021.

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Sun Valley reportedly incorporates many of the enhancements that were promised in Windows 10X. Development of the new OS has halted, and there is no indication of if or when it will resume.

Apple, however, has had more luck rejuvenating its desktop operating system for modern hardware. It released macOS Big Sur with design paradigms that closely mimicked iOS and iPadOS in an effort to showcase its transition to Apple Silicon.

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34 Comments

jimh2 9 Years · 684 comments

What an original name.

2 Likes · 0 Dislikes
Rayz2016 9 Years · 6957 comments

This happens every five years. 

They announce that they’re going to break with the past, release something that points to a legacy-free future. 

Then a chap from marketing reminds them that if they do that, then they’re going to have to build market share from scratch. 

And then the whole idea gets binned … for another five years. 

9 Likes · 0 Dislikes
kiltedgreen 17 Years · 651 comments

Using Big Sur (or any version of macOS) it’s consistent top to bottom in its interface, wherever you go.

On Windows 10 it looks like one thing, then you go somewhere else, Windows 10, then click on a button and look, Windows Vista aesthetic and then click a few more and look, suddenly you’re looking at XP. It’s a cruddy mishmash. Not surprised that they don’t want to attempt untangling it.

4 Likes · 0 Dislikes
tokyojimu 18 Years · 535 comments

So sad they’re stuck at 10, when MacOS is already at 11.

6 Likes · 0 Dislikes
pizzaboxmac 5 Years · 34 comments

Sounds like a repeat of Longhorn.

1 Like · 0 Dislikes