Microsoft shows how containerized and dual-screen apps will work in Windows 10X with a new emulator and SDK and also refreshes its Android-based Duo SDK
In Under 90 Seconds Tweets: Tom Warren / @tomwarren : Here's my first look at Microsoft's new Windows 10X operating system for dual screens. It feels like a modern and cleaned up version of Windows for the future. My initial impressions here:https://www.theverge.com/ ... https://twitter.com/... Tom Warren / @tomwarren : This is the new Wonder Bar for Windows 10X. It includes a software keyboard, trackpad, and quick access to GIFs, emojis, and more. You can even pin videos into it. It's one of the best 10X features https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/... Tom Warren / @tomwarren : Microsoft is letting anyone play with Windows 10X today thanks to a new emulator. It's mainly designed for devs to test apps, but you can install it and check out Windows 10X right now. Details here: https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/... Tom Warren / @tomwarren : Microsoft promises Windows 10X updates will take “less than 90 seconds.” Windows 10X runs separate from drivers and apps so it can simply switch to the latest OS update once a device is rebooted. Details: https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/... Tom Warren / @tomwarren : A quick tour of the basics of Windows 10X navigation https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/... Steve Troughton-Smith / @stroughtonsmith : Windows 10X is weeeird. It's like Windows Phone 10 reborn with a different shell UI & icon design — the apps are all the same as you remember, plus rudimentary Win32 app support. But no Windows Explorer, no access to the system drive or system folder, all locked down like mobile Steven Sinofsky / @stevesi : A first look at Microsoft's new Windows 10X operating system for dual screens https://www.theverge.com/... via @Verge // tiles and no start menu, apps can only fill a screen.... Mary Jo Foley / @maryjofoley : Microsoft demoing how the new Win32 container tech will work with Windows 10X (using Notepad!). Here's my explanation of how this containerization tech (and the new app trust model) will work: https://www.zdnet.com/... #Microsoft365DevDay Paul Thurrott / @thurrott : Windows 10X is the new NT. Assuming it works and is successful. We have RT, 10 S and 10 on ARM failures to look back on, of course. Mary Jo Foley / @maryjofoley : The promised Windows 10X emulator (in preview) is coming (a bit later) today. This is for the coming Microsoft Surface Neo dual-screen (and other coming Windows dual-screen devices). More info: https://www.zdnet.com/... Download link will be here: https://docs.microsoft.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the tooling phase of a story that began when Microsoft announced Windows 10X as a variant of Windows built for dual-screen PCs from Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Microsoft itself, targeted for late 2020. In January it started shipping developer kits and emulators for the Surface Duo and Surface Neo, and today's release goes deeper: an emulator and SDK that demonstrate how containerized apps and dual-screen layouts actually behave, plus a refreshed SDK for the Android-based Duo.
The significance is sequencing — Microsoft is trying to seed an app ecosystem before the hardware ships, because dual-screen devices are only useful if software is written for two screens. Later reporting showed how fragile that plan was: sources indicated 10X would slip to single-screen devices in spring 2021 and dual-screen in spring 2022, with limited Win32 app support.
First-order effects
- Windows developers can now test containerized Win32 apps and dual-screen behavior in the emulator before any 10X hardware exists, and OEMs building 10X devices get the SDK needed to prepare drivers and experiences.
Second-order effects
- Developers targeting Microsoft's dual-screen push now face a two-track burden — the refreshed Duo SDK pulls them toward Android while the 10X SDK targets Windows — so studios must decide whether to invest in both or wait for the form factor to prove demand.
Third-order effects
- Containerization is emerging as Microsoft's mechanism for running legacy Win32 software on a rebuilt, fast-updating OS — the under-90-second update claim depends on separating app containers from the system — but the reported delays suggest the dual-screen category may arrive before its app ecosystem does.
The trend: Microsoft is rebuilding Windows around containerized apps and new form factors, with developer tooling shipped quarters ahead of hardware whose timeline keeps slipping.