Microsoft Windows 10X to Drive Innovation and Market Growth for Foldable Devices

I think foldable devices are an integral part of our technological future. Devices like the iteration of Samsung’s foldable smartphones like Galaxy Fold and Galaxy Z Flip have forever changed my use cases and it’s hard to imagine a future without them now. That said, I’m OK with the first form factors and use cases, but I recognize that many are not. For them, foldable devices still have a long way to go in terms of width and depth. Depth in the refinement of the devices, especially in durability, and breadth in the use of a fold in other form factors. Windows 10X is Microsoft’s solution to an operating system (OS) for foldable, dual-screen devices and likely form factors that Microsoft isn’t even talking about yet. Windows 10X will be spread across many interesting form factors, but in the short term, these will be foldable, dual-display devices. I will discuss the market that Windows 10X addresses, the differentiation it has with Windows 10 and the gap it bridges between these two converging markets.

The upcoming market

After years of seeing a foldable or curved screen, the application of this technology is progressing. Companies like Samsung, Huawei, TCL and Motorola have all revealed smartphones with a variably foldable screen. Foldable screens will have a significant presence in the largest category of devices, so much so that I think it will be as disruptive as the presence of the 2 in 1 laptop design. With foldable devices, dual devices screen will follow, and both will need the right software. Much of this opinion comes from the emerging market for dual-screen and foldable devices.

The mobile device market is evolving in two ways. Laptops are becoming more and more smartphones in their mobile experience, and smartphones are becoming more and more laptops in terms of design, power and input capabilities. A great example of this is the iPad and its updated operating system to allow keyboard and mouse input. While I see this as a long overdue strategic failure by Apple, Apple has finally made the right decision. More entries in a device mean a more diverse and capable workflow. Another example of smartphones that look more like laptops is the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra. The S20 Ultra has 16 GB of memory and 512 GB of upgradeable storage. These are laptop-level specifications in a smartphone device, which is an incredible accomplishment that other smartphone companies will follow; Not because it’s necessary, but because they can. Samsung has further improved its DeX experience, which allows its devices to access a desktop experience, and it has even partnered with Microsoft to be in a Windows environment via USB.

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An example of laptops that look more like smartphones would be the overall concept of an always-connected PC (ACPC). ACPCs are a great example of fusing the connectivity and battery life of a smartphone with the performance and capabilities of a PC. Another example is the evolution of 2-in-1 laptops. 2-in-1 laptops have done a great job of starting the foldable device market by overcoming the disadvantage of not being the best or the best laptop “tablet” but rather being both. The advantage of ACPC and 2-in-1 is that the user gets the best of both worlds with one limiting factor.

The limiting factor comes from their primary inputs. For 2-in-1 and CAAA, the main inputs are the keyboard and the mouse. It goes without saying that the main function of both is to be laptops first, tablets / mobility second. It is a differentiating factor when you look at it compared to foldable double screen devices whose main input is tactile, keyboard and mouse being secondary.

This market trend is not only true for consumer devices, but it is also true for business and enterprise workflows. Much of the business workflow goes to mini-PCs that connect to the back of a monitor, and lightweight laptops like ACPCs, Intel Athena certified devices, and 2-in-1 that get the workflow out of the office.

The same can be said of the software. With the release of the first set of foldable, dual-screen devices, the Surface Neos and Lenovo Flexbooks need an operating system that can rightly meet the needs of a hybrid mobile device.

Why Windows 10 standard is insufficient for foldable and dual-screen devices

Windows 10X puts Windows 10 in an interesting place. Don’t surface tablets testify to the viability of Windows 10 as a tablet-compatible operating system? Windows 10 has a tablet mode and it works. However, just as we have seen that laptops don’t make great smartphones and vice versa, Windows 10 doesn’t make a great mobile operating system. Windows 10 encounters a roadblock when a user tries to touch a main entrance on a mouse and keyboard. To understand why we have to go back to 2012.

Windows 10 tablet mode is the product of what Microsoft wanted to implement with Windows RT. For those who do not remember Windows RT, this is the first use of Mircosoft on an OS tablet in 2012. It came when the tablets had a new concept and clung to the live tiles of Windows mobile. It had a flaw that separated it from classic Windows – dependence on developing applications for the Microsoft Store. A digital advantage that was not favorable for desktop applications and applications supported on Windows 7. Windows RT later became the shell of Windows 10 tablet mode, and touch became a secondary input, even for applications in tablet mode.

To continue, Windows 10 is only suitable for one mode, tablet mode. Dual-screen, foldable devices require as much mode optimization as they need application optimization. Both require changing inputs depending on changing modes. For example, in the Neo, the double screen will have the touch as the main input, but when the keyboard is turned over, the keyboard becomes the main input and the applications are optimized for the keyboard in the same way as the user experience. More modes mean more use cases and more use cases mean more productivity in a mobile experience. Windows 10 does not have the mobile experience.

Bridging the gap

Windows 10X is the Windows RT and Windows mobile concept kept alive eight years later. There are a few key changes that I think will make the operating system a success in the wake of dual-screen, foldable devices.

Windows 10X cleans up the appearance by getting rid of the active tiles. As I mentioned before, live tiles translate from Windows Mobile. For Windows 10X, we get more of the look of Android with updated native apps. There’s still a hint of Windows RT with the taskbar and the overall concept, but it takes what Android has learned in terms of operating system design rather than Windows mobile.

Microsoft released the Windows 10X development kit a year in advance. This tells me that Microsoft takes application optimization seriously for its new software. There are many hurdles that developers will face when it comes to optimizing apps for dual-screen and foldable devices. The gap between screens and determining the location of the fold for different devices will be difficult. It reminds me of what Android is going through with its diverse number of devices with different screen sizes and different hardware. Windows 10X, like Android, will need to be large enough to be on various devices and be able to stick to its foldable, dual-screen experience.

Windows 10X can run legacy apps alongside native apps. This is a big problem and a feature missing from Windows RT. Legacy applications like WIN32, Universal Windows Apps (UWP), progressive web applications (WPA) are still present in this form of Windows. These special legacy applications run in a separate Windows container from the Windows 10X operating system and separate from native applications. This separation limits legacy applications to all administrative controls, but improves device security.

Wrap

Just as foldable and dual-screen devices require an operating system like Windows 10X, Windows 10X will create market growth for these types of devices. I think it has the right ingredients for a successful OS, and I believe Microsoft is taking the right steps to make the OS a success. An advance version of the development kits will help bring the Microsoft store to life with the application and the fashion optimization it needs.

Windows 10X is still in the works, and so far this is a significant improvement on what Microsoft was doing with Windows RT. The success of Windows 10X will be in the hands of dual-screen devices and others like it.

Note: the Moor Insights & Strategy cooperative Jacob Freyman contributed to this article.

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