MARCH 2020 PCWorld 25APIs,” Clinick said.
“No more registry fiddling to optimize the
OS,” Clinick added. “And my personal
favorite, no more registry cleaners.”
SAY GOODBYE (AGAIN) TO
“BIT ROT”
Microsoft promised this with Windows 10 S,
and it’s making the same pledge again with
Windows 10X: Because the initial code and
subsequent OS and app updates will be
clean and tidy, you shouldn’t see “bit rot,” the
degradation of performance that often
accompanies a PC over years of operation.
“We’re going to have sustained performance,
ensuring the performance you see on day one
stays with you for the lifetime of the machine,”
Clinick added. “That’s so important. Because last
time I checked processes don’t get slower, the
more you use them.”
THE WIN32 CONTAINER:
HOW LEGACY APPS ARE
SUPPORTED IN WINDOWS
10X
How Windows 10X deals with legacy Win32
apps is one of the most fascinating parts of
Windows 10X, and it builds upon a number of
the other components we’ve already
mentioned. Basically, Windows 10X will support
most legacy Win32 apps, and it will do so by
stealing a few tricks from Microsoft’s secret
sauce: virtualization (go.pcworld.com/scsc).
Every app within Windows 10X runs within
its own container—intended to protect the
OS from potential malware. But the Win32
Container exists separately, as a large vault of
sorts for legacy Win32 code. (MSIX
Containers will run inside the Win32
Container—yes, as a container inside a
container, too.) Inside the Win32 Container
runs all of the
legacy Win32
apps that you
may want to
keep around:
system
utilities, old
games, and
the like.
There’s even a
traditional
Windows
directory tree,
A diagram of what the Win32 container looks like inside the Windows 10X host. and its own