It’s Official: Windows 10X is for Single-Screen PCs

A month ago, we heard that Microsoft was rethinking its plans for Windows 10X. Today, Panos Panay confirmed that change.

“It is important that we focus on meeting our customers where they are now and helping them get to where they want to be in the future,” Microsoft chief product officer Panos Panay writes. “With Windows 10X, we designed for flexibility, and that flexibility has enabled us to pivot our focus toward single-screen Windows 10X devices that leverage the power of the cloud to help our customers work, learn and play in new ways. These single-screen devices will be the first expression of Windows 10X that we deliver to our customers, and we will continue to look for the right moment, in conjunction with our OEM partners, to bring dual-screen devices to market.”

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We first wrote about the change of plans on April 9th when Mary Jo Foley broke the news, but I’ve known since the inception of this product that Windows 10X was never really about dual-screen devices, as Microsoft first publicly claimed. Instead, Windows 10X was always designed as a feint in which the firm could test a new architecture for mainstream Windows 10 versions with a smaller audience. And there is no smaller audience than that for dual-screen devices.

But it’s not just that new architecture. As I wrote last month, Windows 10X will bring a simplified new user experience as well. And those two changes combined constitute meaningful innovation that will, over time, truly move Windows 10 forward. By bringing Windows 10X to single-screen PCs first, instead of dual-screen PCs, Microsoft is setting the stage for the future of Windows and not just releasing yet another Windows 10 variant. God knows we don’t need more of those.

Anyway, I’m glad Panay finally came clean on these plans, and that Windows finally seems to have some adult supervision again. It’s been a tough couple of years on that front.

Additionally, Panay revealed that the Windows 10 May 2020 Update, which will upgrade the platform to Windows 10 version 2004, will arrive “this month.” There’s no news of a delay past next week’s Patch Tuesday, but I’ve heard there is a two-week delay past that date.

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