30 PCWorld JUNE 2020NEWS MICROSOFT DELAYS SURFACE NEO
Windows 10X (go.pcworld.com/w10x),
which simplified the Windows experience
and stretched the experience across two
screens, will now emphasize the “simple”
rather than the two screens. (Microsoft’s
Windows 10X emulator recently added a
single-screen experience.) Focusing the delay
on “dual-screen Windows devices” also
suggests that Microsoft may still ship the
Surface Duo (go.pcworld.com/sdu0), a
dual-screen Android phone, on time.THE FUTURE OF
WINDOWS 10
More subtly, Panay also indicated that
Microsoft may be gearing up to add more
new features to Windows 10. We’ve already
reviewed the Windows 10 May 2020 Update
(go.pcworld.com/my20), due to roll outpcworld.com/rczd). That
report said Panay had
indicated that the pandemic
had prompted Microsoft to
refocus its priorities on single-
screen devices.
On May 4, Panay
confirmed this, and offered
more insight into Microsoft’s
rationale for adjusting its
strategy. “The world is a very
different place than it was last
October when we shared our
vision for a new category of
dual-screen Windows
devices,” he wrote. “As we continue to put
customers’ needs at the forefront, we need
to focus on meeting customers where they
are now.”
That means that Microsoft will “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,” Panay wrote. “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.”
Based on his phrasing, that essentially
means that Microsoft is delaying the Surface
Neo (go.pcworld.com/sfne), which was
originally scheduled to ship in 2020.It appears that you won’t be seeing this dual-screen view in
Windows 10X hardware anytime soon.