Skip to main content

You can ‘Learn What’s Next’ at Microsoft’s upcoming May event

Microsoft Oct Event
With yesterday’s release of Windows 10 Creators Update, right now would seem the perfect time for Microsoft to announce something new. Apparently, the company agrees, and it’s done just that with a typically vague announcement of an upcoming event in New York City on May 2, 2017.

Titled “Learn What’s Next,” the event will likely be welcome news to anyone who’s been wondering how Microsoft will follow up its latest major Windows 10 release. All sorts of rumors are flying around about Microsoft’s Surface hardware line and the next Windows 10 build, and now we finally have an idea of when the company might provide some enlightenment.

Of course, the announcement doesn’t tell us anything about what Microsoft might be planning to discuss. The #MicrosoftEDU hashtag, however, implies that we might see something of interest to the educational market, which aligns with recent rumors that Microsoft plans to talk more about the low-cost Windows 10 Cloud effort that seems tailor-made for cost-conscious educational customers and will likely combat Google’s Chromebook initiative in that market.

Furthermore, the event comes less than two weeks before Microsoft’s Build 2017, which is where the company will reveal important facts about its software strategy. This raises the very real question of whether Microsoft will announce new hardware on May 2, and what that hardware might include.

Some recent information suggests that Microsoft will not announce the much-anticipated Surface Book 2 and that a Surface Pro 5 might or might not be revealed. Anyone who’s been waiting impatiently for more information on the next Surface machines might, therefore, be disappointed.

In any event, at least some questions are likely to be answered. If you’re not able to make the event in person, then you’ll be able to attend the live-stream in the comfort of your own home or office. The event will take place at 9:30 a.m. ET on May 2, 2017, and Microsoft provided a handy link if you want to go ahead and add the event to your calendar.

Editors' Recommendations

Mark Coppock
Mark has been a geek since MS-DOS gave way to Windows and the PalmPilot was a thing. He’s translated his love for…
Microsoft just teased its next big Windows 11 update
Windows 11 22H2 Tablet Taskbar YouTube screenshot

Microsoft has given us a glimpse of a feature that "Moment 2" may bring as early as January 2023.

Since Windows 11 version 22H2, the Redmond, WA company has dedicated to releasing smaller feature updates, known internally as "Moment." The first one gave us the much-requested tabs in File Explorer (along with its Context IQ tech). The next Windows 11 version 22H2 "Moment" is currently slated for early 2023, according to sources, after it undergoes testing throughout 2022.

Read more
It’s not just you — Microsoft admits its patches broke OneDrive
Microsoft OneDrive files can sync between a PC and a phone.

If you’ve been experiencing OneDrive crashes and error messages, before digging too deep for a solution, note that it might be Microsoft’s fault. Common solutions like restarting, or signing out and back in won’t help because the issue is with the latest Windows 10 update.

Apparently, the problem begins after installing the 22H2 update for Windows 10 that was released on October 18, 2022. Today, Microsoft confirmed that after updating Windows 10, OneDrive might “unexpectedly close,” a nice way to describe a crash. This problem isn’t affecting Windows 11 computers and it’s still possible to use OneDrive via a browser.

Read more
Did Microsoft accidentally leak the next version of Windows?
a view of the strange new windows from ignite 2022

A brief glimpse of a desktop. Just a moment to take in what you were looking at. But then it hits you. Did Microsoft accidentally leak its next version of Windows during the company's Ignite event? Many watching the event are asking the same question.
Zac Bowden at Windows Central has done a great job of breaking down what, exactly, you saw. For a moment, there was a Windows desktop with a floating taskbar along the bottom and a Mac-esque Dock along the top, and a floating search box in the center of the screen. 

This is not the first time we’ve seen this design. Microsoft is working on a three-year update cycle and the next version of Windows is known internally as "Next Valley." The user interface shown off briefly at Ignite matches up with what we know about Next Valley. Of course, the update is not due until 2024. 
For starters, the floating taskbar along the bottom of the screen takes direct inspiration from macOS, down to the rounded corners and the frosted glass background. The icons look bigger and brighter, a la macOS. 
Next, the toolbar along the top featured a battery icon, Wi-Fi icon, the date on the right, and weather on the left. All of this was on the same frosted glass background as the taskbar. If you didn’t know better, you might think this was actually a MacBook running Windows.
But the giant floating search bar in the upper-middle of the screen belies that notion. It was pure Microsoft from the icons to search and close to the font in the search box. What it was doing there on the screen is a big question.
Is Microsoft planning on adding a big floating search box to Windows? If so, it could work a lot like Apple’s new Dynamic Island on iPhone. In fact, we’ve seen a leak for Dynamic Island on Mac, and we were not fans. It would take up a lot of usable space, slow the system down with needless animations, and while not being terribly useful. It'll be interesting to see how Microsoft plans to handle it.
This brief glimpse of a strange Windows operating system may have been nothing more than a mock-up of somebody’s idea for Windows. It could have been an experimental concept that accidentally made it into the presentation. Or it could have been an intentional leak of what Microsoft has planned in Next Valley, giving us a glimpse of what's to come.

Read more