A first screenshot of Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 10X edition of the company’s Windows 10 operating system has been posted today on Twitter. The screenshot shows the operating system’s taskbar and Start on a single-screen device.
Microsoft designed Windows 10X specifically for multi-display devices and foldable devices but the new edition of Windows 10 will also run on single-screen devices.
Zac Bowden published the screenshot on his Twitter account. A hands-on video with Windows 10 for single-screen PCs has been published to the Windows Central account as well.
The screenshot provides a glimpse of the new operating system, and confirms changes to Start and the taskbar.
The video, embedded above, offers more details on Windows 10X running on single-screen devices. It showcases the functionality of the new Start menu and Search, among other things.
The centered Start menu displays a search field at the top, the list of apps and websites installed on the device, and a list of recently accessed files and apps. A click on “show all” displays all installed apps and linked websites; a right-click on an icon displays options to pin it to the taskbar for fast access.
Live tiles are not supported and there is no option to create app folders either.
The taskbar has been redesigned as well; icons are now centered on it and the system tray area displays just the clock and date by default. A new widget opens up when users activate it that display quick settings and notifications, e.g. options to change the volume. All system panels that were displayed directly or behind the arrow-icon in other versions of Windows 10, are now displayed in the new area. Among the options is a new media control option to control the playback of media directly from the area.
Several system applications have changed as well in Windows 10X. The files application uses a basic interface on Windows 10X that resembles the default file explorers of mobile operating systems. Syncing with OneDrive is enabled by default, and a Microsoft Account is required to sign-in to the operating system.
Files, except for those in downloads, seem to be synced automatically with OneDrive if Windows 10X is used.
Another change is that all applications run in fullscreen mode on Windows 10X, and that has been a deliberate choice by Microsoft as the target devices for the first wave of Windows 10X products will be low-cost devices only. It is still possible to run two apps side-by-side, but there is no option to display multiple windows in any other form on the screen.
It is likely that this limitation is going to be removed for other device classes once the operating system becomes available for those.
Closing Words
Windows 10X is a new version of Windows that looks and feels more like a mobile operating system. It is designed for low-cost devices, and veteran users may get a certain Windows RT vibe from the system, especially since Win32 programs will not be supported when the operating system launches. Microsoft plans to introduce options to run Win32 programs in a future version though.
Whether Windows 10X will be more successful than Windows RT remains to be seen, for now, it seems very limited when compared to other Windows 10 editions.
Now You: what is your take on Windows 10X?
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