Microsoft Windows 10X reportedly paused to focus on Windows 10 enhancements
A report suggests that Microsoft will not release Windows 10X in 2021, and the version originally shared "will likely never arrive."
The ill-fated Surface Neo running Windows 10X
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.
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.
Stay on top of all Apple news right from your HomePod. Say, "Hey, Siri, play AppleInsider," and you'll get the latest AppleInsider Podcast. Or ask your HomePod mini for "AppleInsider Daily" instead and you'll hear a fast update direct from our news team. And, if you're interested in Apple-centric home automation, say "Hey, Siri, play HomeKit Insider," and you'll be listening to our newest specialized podcast in moments.
The ill-fated Surface Neo running Windows 10X
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.
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.
Stay on top of all Apple news right from your HomePod. Say, "Hey, Siri, play AppleInsider," and you'll get the latest AppleInsider Podcast. Or ask your HomePod mini for "AppleInsider Daily" instead and you'll hear a fast update direct from our news team. And, if you're interested in Apple-centric home automation, say "Hey, Siri, play HomeKit Insider," and you'll be listening to our newest specialized podcast in moments.
Comments
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.
Not surprised that many Windows projects are being relegated to the back burner.
Code name for this wasn’t Microsoft Copeland was it?
Microsoft's custom Arm chip development is aimed at Azure to compete with Amazon's AWS.
Graviton2, based on Neoverse N1, is already around 15% of AWS instances and offers customers up to 40% better price performance than a traditional x86 instance.
Meanwhile, Graviton3 will likely be based on Neoverse N2 (Armv9) cores later this year.
To top it off, other server Arm CPUs, such as the Ampere Altra (80 core) already offer some compelling performance compared to x86 offerings from Intel/AMD.
If anything, Microsoft is waiting for Qualcomm's NUVIA based Arm chip for high performance laptops in 2022.
https://goodereader.com/blog/tablet-slates/microsoft-working-on-custom-arm-chips-to-power-surface-devices-in-future
Taking a cue from Apple, Microsoft too is designing its own custom ARM chip to power its future server devices. This will make for a watershed moment in the history of the Redmond based software behemoth that has for decades largely relied on Intel chips for its hardware endeavors.
Besides, why would they want to go with ARM for their Windows Server farms and not for their desktop/laptop line?
Having different priorities to Apple is not a weakness, it's just different.
Also, I would like a USB-A port on my Mac. It'd be very useful.
Heck, they've already been using their Linux for Azure installs, from what I hear.
Then they just bought up some other Linux Distro (again).
From my standpoint, and this has been the same:
MS said Windows 10 is the LAST Windows, just expect updates ( I think they mean that! )
What that means IS FORGET ABOUT IT! You've got your crummy WIndows
and that's all boys, they are moving on to other worlds... (i.e. platforms)
essentially "They've dropped Windows." Sure it'll be updated and every once in a while
they will go oh Windows 10 (++whatever) but that's gonna be their and the LEGACY of Windows...
Apple has the luxury of having two parallel universes for what is essentially OS X. The iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, etc., side of their OS universe gives Apple the luxury of tailoring their investment to meet current and future needs while completely sidestepping the need to worry about a lot of the legacy burdens. On the macOS side, Apple controls virtually the entirety of the hardware dependency problem so they can be a lot more precise about when to pull the plug on dropping support for legacy hardware.
Microsoft may talk big when it comes to poking Apple for having two distinct product lines for computing compared to Surface. But in reality, Microsoft would love to be able to operate as efficiently, effectively, and quickly as Apple can to advance their flagship OSs. Apple is in an incredibly enviable position compared to Microsoft, as evidenced by Apple being able to give away its operating system for no cost to customers. Microsoft can’t afford to do this because they need the roughly $80 per license (may be less today) that Windows 10 commands from OEMs to keep it on life support. Supporting Windows is not cheap.
That said, the current version of Windows 10 installed on a “clean” machine like the Intel NUC with no OEM crapware provides a very pleasant and reliable user experience. I use both Windows 10 and macOS all of the time and they are imho 98% functionally equivalent including ease of use. Of course iPadOS blows them both away in terms of ease of use, at least for what it does. The better Linux desktops aren’t far behind either.