Had a strange thought. What if there was never going to be a Windows 10X? What if it was just a way to get Windows 11 out there to be tested and analyzed and Microsoft was just hiding it in plain sight?
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9 comments
navarac
13 September, 2021 - 1:36 pm
<p>Trouble is, I reckon 10X would have just been a new iteration of RT -> 10S -> S Mode. In other words, useless.</p>
<p>Windows 10X wasn’t really tested by the general public, just by OEMs. 10X was meant to be a chromeOS competitor, the OEMs making the devices basically said ‘What’s the point, can we just get windows to be like this instead’.</p><p><br></p><p>There are other things as well, such as no Win32 support, UWP app support being lackluster and it also being web app-based, so OEMs were just wondering why they would license 10X over ChromeOS.</p><p><br></p><p>They then artificially carved a niche segment for dual displays, then changed back regular to single-screen displays, and then canned the entire project.</p><p><br></p><p>There wasn’t a master plan, they tried to make a ChromeOS competitor, the OEMs didn’t want it. All that work went into engineering this off-shoot Windows-based ChromeOS competitor was then bought into regular Windows instead of discarded since that’s what the Windows team were working on for the past 2-3 years</p>
<p>This actually seems to be right! I think Microsoft took Windows 10x and merged it with 10, which is Windows 11 now.</p><p><br></p><p> This would explain, why Microsoft might be so unrelenting with the requirements.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
<p>I predicted 21 months ago we would never see anything called “Windows 10X.” I also don’t think the name “Surface Pro X” is long for this world. I even have my doubts about what Microsoft is currently calling “Windows 11.” Don’t even get me started on “Surface Duo” or “Surface Neo.”</p><p><br></p><p>Microsoft has never been great with naming, but never shy about re-branding. I wouldn’t read too much into a name.</p><p><br></p>
<p>You raise a good point, because they must have been planning Windows 11 for a while. I imagine the reality is that they were hoping to create the next generation slimmed down Windows alongside the heftier original with the same UI, but it just didn’t work out. I don’t really believe that they had any great revelation in the pandemic. </p>
Windows 11 hiding in plain sight refers to the discovery of a hidden but functional Windows 11 theme that had been hidden in the Windows 10 operating system. This discovery was made in early June 2021, a few weeks before the official announcement of Windows 11. To access the hidden Windows 11 theme, users had to enter a specific code in a file named “shell32.dll” using a resource hacker tool. The theme included new icons, sounds, wallpapers, and a Start menu layout that was different from the traditional Windows 10 layout. The discovery of the hidden Windows 11 theme caused a lot of excitement among Windows users, who had been eagerly anticipating a new version of the operating system. However, it also raised concerns about the security of the Windows 10 operating system, as the presence of the Windows 11 files could potentially be exploited by malware or hackers. Microsoft has not commented on the discovery of the hidden Windows 11 files, but the company officially announced Windows 11 on June 24, 2021, and released a preview version of the operating system for developers and enthusiasts to test. Windows 11 includes many new features and improvements, including a redesigned Start menu, a new taskbar, and a new Snap Layouts feature for multitasking.