Skip to main content

Microsoft’s Windows 10X OS may be featured on dual-screen devices

Microsoft’s annual hardware event kicks off Wednesday and as in previous years, the company is expected to introduce a slew of new hardware devices to its lineup. Products rumored to make an appearance include the Surface Laptop 3, as well as a revision to the Surface Pro’s stylus. Also possible is a reveal of the Surface Pro 7, which is rumored to have a borderless screen display and may ditch the “Pro” moniker from the product name. Most recently, reports indicate that Windows 10X, a new OS designed for dual-screen products, will also be revealed.

According to internet leaker Evan Blass, a dual-screen Surface product code-named “Centaurus” is rumored to be announced at this year’s Surface event. Although much is unknown about this dual-screen product, Centaurus has been theorized to be a hybrid of a tablet and a laptop, similar to Lenovo’s Yoga Book. Based on the contents of Blass’ tweet, the new product is expected to run Windows 10X, an operating system that has been previously referred to as Windows Lite.

Unfortunately, Blass had no pictures of the software in action; he claims that Windows 10X is designed to run on dual- and folding-screen devices. Previous reports hinted that Windows Lite would be a lighter iteration of the Windows 10 software, which hit over 900 million active devices last week.

Unlike Windows 10, it’s plausible that 10X might run applications in “containers,” meaning that the operating system would leverage virtualization of Windows 10 containers to run a significant amount of the computer’s applications over the internet instead of directly through the hardware. A previous mock-up made by Petri’s Brad Sams offered insight on an idea of what Windows Lite would look like, including the possibility of a modernized interface.

Regardless, should Windows 10X be officially announced at Wednesday’s event, it is improbable that we will see the operating system anytime soon, especially if it turns out that it will run on the Surface Centaurus, which may not even see a fall 2019 launch. In either case, we will just have to wait and see what Microsoft has up its sleeve tomorrow.

Editors' Recommendations

Taylor Lyles
Based out of Baltimore, Maryland, Taylor is a contributing writer for Digital Trends covering the latest news in the computer…
Microsoft may fix the most frustrating thing about Windows updates
Windows 11 updates are moving to once a year.

Most Windows users will agree that one of the most annoying things about the operating system is the updates. While Windows Updates are necessary, they often tend to come up at the worst possible time, interrupting work and gaming sessions with persistent reminders that the system needs to reboot. Microsoft might be fixing that problem in the upcoming Windows 11 24H2 build, but it's still too early to bid farewell to those ill-timed reboots.

As spotted in the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26058, Microsoft is testing "hot patching" for some Windows 11 updates. Hot patching refers to a dynamic method of updating that often doesn't change the software version and may not even need a restart. In the context of Windows 11, it's pretty straightforward -- Windows will install the update, and you won't have to reboot your system.

Read more
A new Windows 11 hardware system requirement may be incoming
A man sits, using a laptop running the Windows 11 operating system.

Microsoft appears to finally be putting its foot down on how far back it's willing to go when it comes to supporting older hardware. As of the upcoming Windows 11 24H2 build, Microsoft will require that your processor supports the POPCNT instruction. If you're wondering what that is and whether this will affect you, you're not alone.

This new addition was spotted by Bob Pony on X (formerly Twitter). According to the user, if the CPU doesn't support the POPCNT instruction or it's disabled, Windows won't work at all. Multiple system files now require this instruction, starting with the Windows 11 kernel. Long story short -- no POPCNT, no Windows 11 24H2.

Read more
7 beloved Windows apps that Microsoft has killed over the years
A screenshot of Internet Explorer 9.

Microsoft's history is littered with the discontinuation of once-beloved applications. Most recently, WordPad, the renowned text editor app, was conspicuously absent from the latest beta build of Windows 11, indicating an end to its 28-year-long journey. I have fond memories of using the app back in my college days when Microsoft Office was too pricey for me.

WordPad is far from the only app to get canceled by Microsoft over the years. From pioneering productivity tools to nostalgic multimedia players, let's reminisce about some of the most famous applications that Microsoft has consigned to the annals of tech history.
Internet Explorer

Read more