92 TECH ADVISOR • MAY 2020
FEATURE
with access to more resources on the host Windows
10X than a VM has. Together, it all offers greater overall
performance, according to Peter Torr, a principal
program manager at Microsoft. Oh, and if there are
no Win32 apps running? The whole thing shuts down.
Even inactive Win32 apps are ‘tombstoned’, essentially
left in a very low-power state to preserve battery.
But opening the Win32 app within Windows
10X doesn’t actually launch it directly. Instead, what
Windows 10X does is create ‘proxy’ apps within the
Windows 10X host operating system – essentially, using
a Remote Desktop-like interface to access the secured
Win32 app within the Win32 Container. Microsoft
promises you’ll have near-native performance of these
apps, but some sort of slowdown would seem likely.
Privacy within Win32 apps
There will be a few bumps along the way. While
all ‘typical’ PC hardware – mice, keyboards, pens,
touchscreen, printers, networking devices – should
work as expected within Windows 10X, there will be
limitations on “non-standard hardware” and “app-
installed drivers”, Microsoft says. Microsoft’s also
putting some broad limitations on what it’s calling
“privacy-sensitive hardware,” such as the camera and
microphone. In this case, all Win32 apps will have
access to the mic, or none will; there are no per-app
permissions, Torr explained.
Torr listed other limitations to Win32 apps in
Windows 10X: No system tray applets will be allowed,
and you won’t be able to use File Explorer add-ins or
namespace extensions, for example. If there’s an app or
