I’ve been privileged enough to review countless unreleased Microsoft products over the years here at Windows Central. I've daily-driven everything from the fabled Lumia McLaren and Microsoft Band 3 to eventually even the Surface Mini.

If there’s an unreleased Microsoft device out there, I’ve likely had my hands on it. That continues today, as I finally get to review what might be Microsoft’s most infamous unreleased product, the Surface Neo.

Unlike the Surface Mini and other unreleased devices that I’ve tested, the Surface Neo is a product that Microsoft actually announced to the public and even set a release date for.

Unveiled in October 2019, it had a promised release window of “Holiday 2020", and the company had big bets on this being the next major category shift for Surface and Windows.

But Holiday 2020 came and went, and the Surface Neo never actually launched. It was quietly shelved in 2021, along with the OS it was supposed to run, and that was the end of it. Microsoft’s official statement on the whereabouts of Surface Neo is that the product has been postponed. I think at this point it's very obvious it's never coming.

Some time ago, I was able to go hands-on with Microsoft’s elusive Surface Neo. I had an opportunity to daily drive the device for a handful of weeks and document my time with it. The hardware I used was “near-final,” meaning it’s a pretty good representation of what the hardware would have been like had it been available to buy.

The software, on the other hand, is a different story. Windows 10X was never finished, and the build I had access to on Surface Neo was nowhere near final. While it did give me a good idea as to what the experience would have been like, there were certain things still cooking in the oven that I wasn't able to experience.

As such, any critical comments made in this review should be viewed with that in mind. This is unfinished hardware and software. With that disclaimer out of the way, let's get to what it was like to actually use and daily drive the infamous Surface Neo!

The best Surface hardware, ever?

The Surface Neo’s design is, in a word, beautiful. In a few more words, it’s possibly the best bit of PC hardware Microsoft has ever produced. It’s incredibly premium, with a combination of metal, glass, and polycarbonate that makes the device feel unlike any other tablet or laptop on the market. Its size is unique, being a touch smaller than a Surface Go when folded, and around the same size as a Surface Pro when unfolded.

Unlike the Surface Pro and Surface Go, however, the Surface Neo is shockingly thin. Each half is just 5.6mm, making it one of the thinnest Windows PCs ever. For a device that was supposed to launch with an Intel CPU in 2020, that’s no small feat.

Microsoft advertised a number of different postures that you’d be able to utilize on Surface Neo, including dual-screen, single-screen, tent, and laptop mode. Opening the Surface Neo into dual-screen mode reveals two gorgeous 4:3 9-inch LCD displays, both of which sit a short distance apart and are perfectly aligned with each other.

The two displays are incredible and bright, featuring a resolution of 1920x1440 and a PPI of 267, making text and images crisp and clear. Both screens together equate to around a 13-inch 3:2 display.

These displays can be used in either portrait or landscape orientation, with the right panel also doubling as a virtual keyboard and trackpad when you want to use the Surface Neo as a mini laptop. There's also a physical keyboard accessory, which I discuss in more detail further down.

Many of the aesthetic choices made with Surface Neo mirror those of the Surface Duo, which did ship in 2020. The spine is made of aluminum, which is super strong and cold to the touch. The hinges exist at the very top and bottom of the spine, and are significantly larger than the hinges on Surface Duo to accommodate the additional weight of the larger glass panels.

The hinges themselves feel incredible. It’s hard to describe, but they’re perfectly balanced when it comes to stiffness and ease of use. They’re not too stiff that the device is hard to open or close, but also not so loose that the hinge mechanism itself feels flimsy. You can always easily adjust the position of the screens with a reasonable amount of force.

Just like the Surface Duo, the Surface Neo opens and closes fluidly. Shutting the Neo or flipping it over into single-screen mode produces a satisfying noise as both halves of the device come together.

Another thing that Microsoft wouldn’t say about Surface Neo was whether or not it would ship with LTE. I can confirm that on the device I had, there is a SIM tray for LTE data. What’s super cool about this is that Microsoft built the SIM tray directly into the volume rocker, so when the SIM tray is installed, it doubles up as volume buttons

This doesn’t make the volume rocker feel less tactile either. The power and volume buttons are super clicky, and you’d never even know that you can remove the volume rocker to put your SIM in based on how they feel. It’s a really cool bit of engineering and is something I’m surprised we haven’t seen done in other devices on the market.

A family of peripherals

Surface Neo features dedicated accessories for pen and keyboard input: the Surface Slim Pen, which did ship, and the magnetic keyboard, which didn’t. I was lucky enough to have both to use during my time with the Surface Neo, and I have some thoughts.

I love the magnetic charging capabilities of Surface Neo for its accessories. You can stick the Slim Pen to the front, and the keyboard to the back, and both will charge while the Neo is sleeping. The keyboard can be flipped around and attached to the right screen for use as a mini laptop, where it will continue to charge while in use.

That motion of flipping the keyboard around from the back onto the display is so addictive and satisfying. The magnets it uses are very, very strong, to the point where I can hang the device upside down just by the keyboard, and the Surface Neo will remain attached. The magnets make a satisfying “thunk” sound when slapped onto the display, which automatically initiates the second screen as a virtual trackpad and emoji panel.

Sadly, I don’t have any tech specs for the keyboard as it was never released, but I can tell you that it is tiny.

The keys are significantly smaller than the Surface Go’s, and key travel was also very shallow, which is understandable considering how thin the top end of this keyboard is.

It features a slight wedge shape to allow for the Neo to be closed while the keyboard remains between the two screens, which reduces the risk of damaging the displays. A nice detail. The typing experience, while cramped, was still tactile and satisfying.

Not very snappy

Because this thing runs Windows 10X, there’s no easy way to perform benchmark tests, so I’m forgoing that part of this review. Instead, I can tell you with first-hand experience that the Surface Neo isn't very quick. The Intel Lakefield chip simply isn’t good, which explains why Intel canceled the line not long before the Surface Neo was shelved.

It's also worth noting that the unit I had would get very hot under load, causing it to thermal throttle quite a lot. It's normal for computers to warm up a bit when being pushed, but the Surface Neo would get hot to the point where I sometimes would need to put it down because I was worried about heat damage.

This could be due to unfinished drivers, but my sources actually reckon it's because the Surface Neo is just too thin to adequately cool the Intel Lakefield chip inside. Microsoft apparently did a lot of engineering work to get the Lakefield chip to behave inside this chassis — there's no fan inside after all, but there was no fighting the fact that Intel Lakefield just wasn't very efficient.

And this, ultimately, is why I believe the product was canceled. Because it was a product designed in partnership with Intel, it wasn’t something Microsoft could simply recycle with an ARM processor. Plus, with the pandemic and less interest in unique form factors such as the Surface Neo, there was no longer an incentive to push this form factor over the finish line.

The OS had potential

I’ll be the first to tell you that I really like Windows 10X. I love the idea of a lightweight version of Windows that’s more secure and easier to use. Plus, the dual-screen enhancements made to Windows 10X for the Surface Neo make using this device a delight.

I love all the subtle sounds for spanning windows and moving them across the screens. There’s just something about the Windows 10X UI that is so delightful, in ways that I can’t really explain. Animations just look and feel smooth, even when compared to Windows 11, which has a very similar interface.

You can really feel just how much lighter Windows 10X is compared to full Windows, and that's by design. Windows 10X was built on a new, modern platform called Windows Core OS, which only ran UWP apps natively. Because of this, the OS isn't bogged down by legacy apps and services.

In fact, the entire Windows Shell has been rebuilt from the ground up with modern code, something even Windows 11 doesn't fully enjoy. Because of this, however, Windows 10X is very barebones. It has a few customizable settings and even fewer apps.

But I'd be lying to you if I said any of that mattered. Just using the Surface Neo is joyful. Dragging and flicking apps between the two displays, flipping the keyboard over into laptop mode, and being productive on this thing is just so much fun.

The OS is so fluid that it really does feel magical when you place the keyboard on the lower screen, which moves the OS into "compose mode" and turns the Neo into a tiny laptop.

When in compose mode, the top portion of the lower screen becomes a virtual trackpad that you can use to navigate around the OS with a cursor. This is combined with the "Wunderbar," which is a fancy name for the emoji panel that Windows 11 has.

It's actually really neat, letting you find an emoji or gif image in the panel that sits above the physical keyboard is a genius idea. It's like a big Mac Touch Bar, but better in every way. It even lets you place things like a calculator, music controls, and even a full video down there. The music controls make sense, but I'm not sure I'd ever find watching a video in the Wunderbar very useful.

What's even cooler is that you can move the physical keyboard over the virtual trackpad, and Windows will intelligently move the trackpad below the keyboard for a more traditional keyboard and trackpad positioning. I found myself doing this quite a lot, as I could never get used to the trackpad being above the keyboard.

Windows 10X was intended to eventually run Win32 apps via virtualization, allowing you to run any Windows app on top of Windows 10X. I wasn't able to test this, however, as the feature just wasn't in that much of a working state on this pre-release hardware and software. Sources said that the experience would have been slow anyway.

At least Windows 10X runs the Chromium version of Edge, which means it's relatively up to date and can install web apps like Spotify and Telegram. There were also still a few UWP apps that worked when I had my time with it, including the entire Office Mobile suite, Mail & Calendar, and a handful of others.

So close, yet so far

Surface Neo is dead. And to me, that's a crying shame. I think with the right chip and OS, Surface Neo could have been an incredible device for a lot of people. Even now, I think I'd find value in a Windows 11 PC with two high-resolution screens that can fold 360 degrees and act as both a mini tablet and a laptop.

I do think for it to be truly useful, it'd need to be an inch or so bigger at least. At 9 inches each side, it's only truly useful as a tablet. In laptop mode, I reckon most people would find it too cramped, especially with the tiny Surface Neo keyboard that's significantly smaller than the Surface Go's already small keyboard.

What upsets me most is that we were so close to a new category of devices that truly differentiated itself on the market. Dual-screen devices could have been a thing, and the Surface Neo and Duo were to lead the pack. I am a true believer that dual-screen is better than a single foldable screen, but I know I'm in the minority there.

I also have to admire just how similar the Duo and Neo are. There was a cohesive vision and experience between these two devices, a pairing so perfect that no other company has come close. Not even Apple has built different categories of hardware with synergy this precise.

The Duo is literally a small Neo. They function the same. They look the same. They feel the same. One is bigger for PC tasks, and one is smaller for phone tasks. Paired with the Surface Earbuds, you've got yourself an incredibly productive mobile computing experience.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to experience this, albeit in an unfinished state. Unfortunately, the Surface Neo is never coming, and Surface is in a completely different place now, with an entirely different goal. It's no longer about unique form factors, but rather, setting the narrative for the status quo.

To end, please enjoy our gallery of Surface Neo photos. This is the Neo from every angle, for your viewing pleasure.

Microsoft has never been a hardware company, but it has certainly dabbled with the idea. With dabbling comes ideas that never make it off the ground. T

To celebrate Microsoft’s 50^th anniversary, we wanted to take a look back at its most famously scrapped devices in the last couple of decades.

Microsoft Courier (2010)

Microsoft has spent the better part of a decade exploring concepts around dual-screen computing, and the Microsoft Courier was the first true internal effort to get something off the ground as more than just a research project.

Courier explored the idea of a digital notebook, which focused entirely on digital inking and pen experiences, along with touch. It featured two identical 7-inch screens joined via a hinge mechanism that allowed the device to open and close like a book.

The device was purported to run a specialized version of Windows, separate from the mainline Windows effort that was at the time focused on early Windows 8 development. This means the device wouldn't run Windows apps.

Instead, Courier would have had its own app platform, which developers would need to build dedicated apps for if they wanted to support the device. The entire experience was built around a digital journal, with virtual pages you could swipe between to take down notes and drawings.

Unfortunately, Courier was canceled in 2010 for reasons that are unknown. Rumors suggest the project was canceled for many reasons, including the fact that it wasn't going to run Windows 8 and support traditional or metro Windows apps.

Although it never shipped, Courier certainly laid the groundwork for the company's future dual-screen efforts in Surface Duo and Surface Neo.

Lumia McLaren (2014)

In 2013, rumor’s emerged that Nokia and Microsoft were working on a unique flagship Lumia handset, designed as a successor to the Lumia 1020 and featuring special “3D Touch” functionality that would let users manipulate the device without touching the screen.

The device was code-named McLaren featured a 5.5-inch FHD LCD display and an aluminum unibody chassis, which was a big departure from the all-polycarbonate designs of prior Lumia handsets at the time. The device’s big selling point was 3D Touch, which was being co-developed with Microsoft.

Microsoft was building a new UX paradigm for McLaren called MixView, which was designed to let app tiles on the Windows Phone Start Screen explode into smaller tiles when a user hovered their finger over an app. This UX was super fluid and satisfying to use, and it’s a shame it never shipped.

Other features unique to McLaren were sensors built into the edges of the device that could identify how the device was being held, and automatically apply things like screen orientation lock. Apps would have also been able to tap into these sensors, adding virtual buttons along the edge of the phone for actions.

McLaren was supposed to launch towards the end of 2014 as the latest flagship Windows Phone, but the product was canceled in the summer of that same year. The reason for its cancellation isn’t truly known, but it’s believed that Microsoft pulled the plug as the 3D Touch technology was too expensive and difficult for average consumers to grasp.

Surface Mini (2014)

Surface Mini is a famous one, primarily because it was canceled at the very last minute. Codenamed Iris, the Surface Mini was supposed to be an 8-inch Windows RT tablet that prioritized touch and pen input.

Surface Mini began development in 2013 and was planned to be announced alongside the Surface Pro 3 in 2014. The device would have competed head-to-head with the iPad mini, designed as a digital notebook for on-the-go note-taking and integration with OneNote.

The display was a high-resolution 1080p LCD panel, and the chassis was made of a felt-like material. That chassis included a kickstand attached to a pen loop designed to store the Surface Pen, which this device was built around.

The kickstand was also unique, the first to support three different angles instead of two. A little fun fact, this kickstand design would later be recycled for use on the Surface 3 a year later.

Microsoft ultimately canceled the Surface Mini just weeks before it was supposed to be announced. The company had already ordered an initial round of production units that it intended to sell, and marketing materials were also complete and ready to go.

Why was it canceled? It’s believed that Windows RT was the primary culprit. At the time that the Surface Mini was supposed to be announced, Microsoft had already decided to move away from Windows RT.

The company was in the early development phase of Windows 10, an operating system that would never come to Windows RT devices such as the Surface Mini. At the time, Windows 10 on Arm wasn’t ready, and so the company had no choice but to kill the device.

Xbox Joule (2014)

Before the Microsoft Band, there was the Xbox Joule. This was a prototype fitness watch incubated by the Xbox team that was supposed to sync with the Microsoft Kinect and track fitness and health statistics in games that utilized them.

Joule featured a low-resolution 1.5-inch touchscreen display and basic firmware that tracked heart rate, steps, and calories burned. It featured replaceable bands and a charging dock.

The interface was very square, similar to the design language of Windows 8 and the Xbox dashboard at the time. It was manipulated with gestures, exiting apps by swiping to the side or down from the top of the screen.

The Xbox Joule was canceled sometime in early 2014, and much of the early work put into it later laid the foundations for the Microsoft Band that launched later in 2014. It's unknown why the Xbox Joule was canceled.

Microsoft Band 3 (2016)

In keeping with wearables, the Microsoft Band 3 was canceled in 2016 when the company decided that it was no longer interested in being in the fitness wearables game. Band 3 had been spotted on the wrists of a number of employees, and the product was quite far along in the development pipeline before it was scrapped.

Band 3 featured a slightly thinner chassis, a new charging mechanism with an easier-to-attach and adjust clasp, and new waterproofing capabilities that allowed the watch to track water-based activities such as swimming.

Externally, the device looked similar to the Band 2, though it wasn't identical. The thinner chassis meant it fit better on your wrist, and the device was also supposed to be more durable to help address tearing issues that were common on the Band 2.

Surface Andromeda (2018)

Andromeda might be Microsoft's most famously canceled device. Although it was revived in the form of Surface Duo, the Surface Duo wasn't exactly like Andromeda. Surface Andromeda was Microsoft's first attempt at a dual-screen phone, but this was running Windows and featured an entirely different user experience.

The Andromeda device was built around a version of Windows that prioritized pen and digital ink. The idea was that the device would be a digital pocket notebook that could travel with you and keep all your thoughts written down with the pen, which attached to the front of the device with magnets and charged.

The OS was built around a digital journaling experience. The home screen was an inking canvas that you could write notes on, paste images into, and customize to your heart's desire. It still featured UWP apps and a Start screen, which could be accessed by swiping in from the left.

Unlike Surface Duo, the device featured a rear camera. Metal rails around the sides of the device gave it a more premium feel in the hand too. Andromeda was canceled in 2018, but the hardware was later recycled for Surface Duo in 2019, albeit with some notable tweaks and changes.

Surface Neo (2021)

Surface Neo is Microsoft's most recent effort at a dual-screen computer, attempting to achieve the same goals as Courier but with a modern Windows OS twist. It began development in 2018 under the codename Centaurus.

Surface Neo features two identical 9-inch screens that support both pen and touch input, joined together by a 360-degree hinge mechanism that enabled the device to open and close like a book and flip all the way around into single-screen mode.

Neo would have run a special version of Windows called Windows 10X that would have been able to run Windows apps. This version of Windows was the first to pioneer the centered Start menu and Taskbar interface we see today on Windows 11.

On the inside, Surface Neo was powered by an Intel Lakefield processor, paired with 8GB RAM. The device also supported wirelessly charging both the Surface Pen and a new Surface Neo keyboard accessory, which could lay flat on the left screen and turn the Neo into a mini laptop.

Surface Neo was canceled in 2021, after Microsoft scrapped Windows 10X and Intel abandoned the Lakefield processor.

Surface Cronos (2022)

Shortly after the launch of Surface Duo 2, Microsoft scrapped plans to ship a mid-range variant of the dual-screen smartphone. The device was codenamed Cronos, and was supposed to ship as a stopgap between the Duo 2 in 2021 and the Duo 3 in 2023.

Cronos featured an all-plastic exterior and a dual-camera array on the back of the device. The displays were also cheaper, missing the curved glance bar that the Duo 2 had. The device was all about cutting corners to bring the price down.

Unfortunately, the device was scrapped when the company decided that dual-screen devices weren't working. Both Cronos and Duo 3 were scrapped, and the company began working on a true folding screen phone.

In 2023, Microsoft would cancel all plans to release more phone hardware.

On October 2, 2019, Microsoft held what was arguably the best Surface event it's ever put on. It was supposed to be a pinnacle moment for Windows and Surface, with the company willingly pulled back the curtain on products and plans that weren’t yet ready. It was at this event that Microsoft unveiled what it thought was the future of the PC space; dual-screen devices and Windows 10X.

The event started like any other, with a straight to the point unveiling of a new Surface Laptop and Surface Pro. Same design, new specs. Overall good products. Then things went up a notch with the unveiling of the Surface Pro X, which was Microsoft’s first Windows 10 on ARM and an interesting look at where the Surface Pro line was going with regard to design.

But it was the Surface Neo and Surface Duo unveiling that took the world by storm. After then EVP Panos Panay wrapped up his Surface Pro X talk, he paused and said this:

“Now I want to do something we’ve not done before. I want to take a few minutes with you, to talk a little bit about the future of our products.” With hindsight, perhaps Panay wasn’t so sure about talking about the future after all. “I have been debating how to do this, this is not my thing. How do we show you our products before they’re finished? … I was backstage with Satya and I told him I’m more nervous than normal.”

He then went on to state that the product he was about to talk about would be coming next year and compared it to what Surface Pro did for Windows 8 in 2012. “Today we want to introduce you to a new product that I believe is the next category.” Panay claims this device is built to be smaller, personal, yet fully productive.

We then get an incredibly polished look at the Surface Neo, and it looked fantastic. A dual-screen PC running a new version of Windows that’s faster, modern, lightweight, and more secure than any version of Windows before it. It’s unlike any other PC we’ve ever seen, and it’s coming next holiday. I was ecstatic.

There were a few curious statements made during the Surface Neo’s unveiling, including the fact that dual-screens makes you more productive. Panay claimed that Microsoft had “measured brains” to come to this conclusion. While many assumed Microsoft had opted for dual-screen because foldable screens weren’t ready yet, Panay’s talk implies dual-screen was chosen because it’s better for productivity.

After the Surface Neo was unveiled to the world, Panay ended his talk with a “thank you.” But as he began to walk off stage, he paused, turned around, and proclaimed “we’re not done.”

What?

As a member of that audience, I can’t tell you how intense the next few moments were. Nobody knew what was about to be unveiled. We had known for some time that Microsoft was working on a dual-screen phone, but rumors from about a year beforehand proclaimed the project was dead. Turns out, it wasn’t dead, it just switched operating systems… and that’s when Microsoft unveiled the Surface Duo.

I think, based on my tweets from this moment, you can tell I was excited. In fact, I think everyone was excited. It was a bold idea; Microsoft hardware design paired with Google’s Android software. It’s a Microsoft phone without an app gap… ideally, this should be the success story Microsoft has been waiting for, right?

This moment was probably the pinnacle of excitement for me in my career covering technology. I was all-in on Microsoft’s vision for the future of Surface and Windows. I was ready to be that guy with a dual-screen PC in my bag and dual-screen phone in my pocket. Roll on Holiday 2020.

Vaporware and failure

Things didn’t exactly go to plan, unfortunately. We all know it now, but the Surface Neo was a pipe dream; A product that Microsoft wasn’t actually able to build. The hardware was beautiful, but plagued with bad silicon that caused the device to overheat. It was also launching with an operating system that wasn’t ready, and needed at least another couple of years in the oven.

So in May 2020, just seven months after Surface Neo was unveiled to the world, Microsoft announced that the device was postponed and Windows 10X would be delayed. Curiously, Surface Duo was not delayed, and launched ahead of schedule on September 10, 2020.

Surface Duo was our first look at Microsoft’s vision for a productive smartphone. A dual-screen device running Android. On paper, why would this fail? As long as Microsoft nails the software experience, this device should be a hit? Well, unfortunately, Microsoft didn’t nail the software experience, not even close.

The Surface Duo famously launched with what might be the buggiest launch day software ever seen on an Android phone. The device barely worked as intended. I was a day one buyer, and I can admit that the software was rough. Many people returned theirs due to the software alone. Then there was the fact that Surface Duo was missing key smartphone features, like NFC for wireless payments, wireless charging, and a good camera.

These issues were addressed with Surface Duo 2, but the market had already made up its mind about a Microsoft-made dual-screen phone by then. Many reviewers panned the Surface Duo 2 for not being a true foldable, and this caused Microsoft to push on the brakes. I loved my Surface Duo 2, but the market seemingly didn’t want to pay such high prices for a phone that didn’t have a foldable screen.

Microsoft then fumbled supporting the device once it was on the market. Surface Duo launched on Android 10, and received just two major software updates before Microsoft dropped support for it. Surface Duo 2 launched with Android 11, and has only received Android 12L as a major OS update so far. Android 13 has been out for a year, and Android 14 is set to launch imminently.

So far, it looks like Microsoft has no plans to launch Android 13 or Android 14 for Surface Duo 2, which is wild and sets a distressing precedent for future Surface phone hardware. Microsoft’s inability to support Surface Duo with timely Android OS releases tells you everything you need to know about Microsoft’s commitment to Surface Duo.

Looking to the future

Ultimately, the dual-screen vision Microsoft had failed spectacularly. At this point, there are no plans to deliver dual-screen support in the way Windows 10X did on Windows 11, and most OEMs have all but given up on their dual-screen designs. Lenovo is the only one to have shipped a dual-screen laptop in the last couple of years, and they had to do most of the heavy lifting software wise to get that experience to work.

Even with Microsoft’s vision dead, and its lead now on the way to Amazon, it appears the future now leans on true foldable displays. We’re seeing it on phones, and we’re starting to see it in the PC space too. LG, ASUS, Lenovo, and HP have all unveiled foldable PCs with Windows 11, and there are more on the way. Now, all we need is for Microsoft to support them natively with Windows, and perhaps launch a foldable Surface PC of its own.

A new report from a trusted Apple leaker has suggested that Apple is planning to ship its first foldable iPad as soon as next year. No details about the device itself have been revealed yet, including whether or not it will be an iPhone / iPad hybrid, or iPad / Laptop hybrid.

Assuming it's the latter, this does raise an important question for us in the PC space: Where is Microsoft's foldable Surface PC? Foldables are up and coming, and we're already starting to see them from Microsoft's own partners like Lenovo and ASUS, but Microsoft itself is yet to venture down the path of foldable tablet PCs.

Android is already being adapted to work better on foldable phones and tablets, which has benefited manufacturers like Samsung, Xiaomi, and Oppo immensely. Over on the PC side, we've not seen anything of the sort. Microsoft has not updated Windows to better support foldable screens, so manufacturers have been forced to handle the software aspect themselves.

As a result, Windows foldables are a bit of a mess. Lenovo's first foldable had terrible software that essentially strong-armed Windows into bending to conform to a foldable screen, but it never worked well. Lenovo's second foldable PC is on the horizon, and while it does use updated software, early hands-on demos do make it seem like the experience still isn't going to be as polished as might be on an Android device.

If Apple is planning to ship a foldable iPad next year, then it's likely already working on foldable support for iOS and iPadOS. Arguably, Apple is in the best position to ship a foldable device, being that it has both high-quality phone and tablet apps that the device could switch between on the fly. 

And knowing Apple, its software polish will simply blow everything else out of the water. Transitions and animations will be smooth, unlike on Windows PCs using third-party software to force Windows into submission. 

Here's what Windows needs to be good on foldable PCs:

• Fluid animations when switching between postures.
• Automatic detection of a physical keyboard on one half of the screen.
• Be able to switch off one side of the display when using a 360-degree folding screen.
• Be able to correctly switch between tablet and laptop modes and have the bottom half be a virtual keyboard/trackpad and the top half be the Windows desktop.

I'm hoping that with the next big release of the Windows client in 2024, Microsoft does add these things to support foldable PCs. If Microsoft wants Windows to be a viable player in the foldable market, it simply needs to support these things sooner rather than later.

Additionally, a Surface foldable PC would go a long way to showing the market that it's serious about foldables, as Google and Apple are rumored to be doing imminently. We know Microsoft is working on a foldable Surface Duo 3, but that's going to be an Android device, not Windows.

Next year could be the perfect time to relaunch the Neo and Duo vision, but with two foldable devices instead of dual-screen devices. The Surface Duo 3 being a foldable phone running Android, and the rebirthed Surface Neo being a foldable PC running Windows.

Today marks 1000 days since Microsoft unveiled the Surface Neo to the world. It also unveiled a number of other products, including the Surface Pro X and Surface Duo. All of the products announced on October 2, 2019 have since shipped to varying degrees of success, except for one: Surface Neo, the product many of us were most excited for still hasn't shipped. So, 1000 days on, what happened?

The last official word from Microsoft on the whereabouts of Surface Neo is that it has been postponed alongside Windows 10X. In reality, both projects are pretty much dead, with no active plans to bring either to market any time soon. 

Because of this, Surface Neo as a product is still shrouded in mystery. Microsoft didn't share much info when it was unveiled, and certainly hasn't shared more info since. So, here's everything I've heard about the Surface Neo over the last couple of years, from those familiar with the product and Microsoft's plans for it at the time.

These were some of the specs

Microsoft never officially detailed all the specs for the Surface Neo, but over the last two years I have heard bits of info from people internally at Microsoft who were testing the hardware. Each display had a resolution of 1440 x 1928, and the entry-level model had 8GB RAM with 128GB storage. The device was powered by an Intel Core i5-L16G7, the same chip found in the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold.

I’m unsure if Microsoft ever confirmed that the Surface Neo would support LTE, but there were certainly versions of the hardware that did internally. In fact, the LTE models had a unique way of hiding the SIM tray door; by building it into the volume rocker.

To insert a data SIM into the Surface Neo, you would simply pull out the volume rocker to reveal a tray to place the SIM into. It's a great idea that helped keep the overall design of Surface Neo clean and minimalist. 

It was prone to overheating

Several sources have mentioned that the prototype hardware that Microsoft had built for Surface Neo at the time was prone to serious overheating. Multiple contacts have told stories about how the Surface Neo had to be kept under a fan or on cooling pads in testing labs, as well as backstage at the announcement event in October 2019 just to keep it cool enough for demos.

I hear there are a handful of reasons for this, with the primary one being a combination of unfinished drivers from Intel paired with the incredibly thin Surface Neo chassis. There’s no saying whether this issue would have been solved with finalized drivers, as I understand the Lakefield chip that was powering the Neo wasn’t all that efficient to begin with. Plus, Intel would end up discontinuing this specific line of processors not even a year later.

It was very small in laptop mode

A big complaint I’ve heard from contacts who were testing the hardware internally was that it was very small when in “laptop mode.” The keyboard accessory was cramped, and paired with the small 9-inch screen, it just wasn’t very enjoyable or productive to use. Many find the Surface Go to be too small, and that’s a 10.5-inch device. The Neo was a full 1.5-inches smaller than that.

Of course, there were other postures you could use, including the ability to use the two screens side by side as an extended dual-screen monitor setup paired with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. This would give you 13-inches of screen to work with, which is more comparable to a normal-sized laptop.

But there's no denying that the Surface Neo had a little bit of an identity crisis. It was a great and large digital journal, but was less good at being a full-blown productive PC. 

Windows 10X was rough

I think it’s fair to say at this point that Windows 10X was a bit of a mess. Microsoft pulled the plug on it before it was really finished, but multiple contacts have described the painful dogfooding process of Windows 10X on the Surface Neo.

Unsurprisingly, Microsoft as a company uses Microsoft Teams for work related communication, and it’s a pretty vital part of a lot of Microsoft employees' workflows. Windows 10X was an OS that didn’t support legacy Win32 apps natively, meaning the OS would essentially spin up a VM of full Windows whenever the user launched a legacy app.

This was an incredibly slow experience on Surface Neo. Teams running natively on full Windows is quite slow on a good day, so imagine running it on an overheating, underpowered chip that also has to virtualize the app via a VM running full Windows on top of a lightweight version of Windows. It was a recipe for disaster, and those who needed to use Teams felt it the hardest.

Plus, there were issues with the virtualization technology itself. I’ve heard that because of how the tech worked, Windows 10X would put the legacy app to sleep when it wasn't on-screen after X number of minutes to save battery and resources. This would subsequently disable the ability to receive toast notifications, which was another big problem for those using Teams.

Surface Neo as we know it isn’t postponed; it’s dead

Microsoft’s official word on the status of Surface Neo is that the product has been postponed, but my sources tell me that the Surface Neo that was announced is dead and will never ship. That vision, with an Intel Lakefield chip and two 9-inch displays in that exact chassis is dead, which honestly shouldn’t come as much of a surprise at this point.

Now, that doesn’t mean Microsoft can’t revive the idea with revised hardware down the line, but my sources are clear that there is no active plan to do so at this time. A Surface Neo-type device is not on the cards for this year. Who knows what the future holds beyond that, but I’m not holding my breath.

That said, plans can change, and maybe Microsoft will bring back the dual-screen Surface Neo for another go at some point down the line. But I think it’s very unlikely at this point. If anything, Microsoft is more likely to ship a single-screen foldable instead, as that form factor is still very much up and coming in the PC space.

We're back with another exciting episode of the Windows Central Podcast, and this week, we report on Microsoft's hybrid work event, new builds of Windows 11, and the possibility of putting Android on Surface Neo. There's also a new name and look for Microsoft's Journal app, an interesting mini PC coming from Apcsilmic, and more.

This episode of the Windows Central Podcast was recorded on April 8th 2022.

Links:

• Should Microsoft just put Android on Surface Neo? | Windows Central
• Ask Windows Central: What is the future of Surface without Surface Neo? | Windows Central
• Microsoft Edge edges out Safari for second place in desktop browser market | Windows Central
• Windows 11 File Explorer gets a new Home in latest Insider build | Windows Central
• Windows 11 event: Here are all the new features that were announced by Microsoft | Windows Central
• Microsoft's Journal app has a new name and a fresh look for Windows 11 | Windows Central
• Microsoft unveils plans to integrate Windows 11 and Windows 365 via hybrid Cloud PC experiences | Windows Central
• Apcsilmic announces Dot 1, the 'smallest' and 'most energy-efficient' Windows mini PC | Windows Central

• Sponsors:

  Manscaped: Get 20% Off and Free Shipping with the code WCP at Manscaped.com.

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In October 2019, Microsoft wowed the tech world with two new devices: Surface Duo and Surface Neo. Both were similar devices with dual screens, but Surface Duo was a phone running Android while Surface Neo was meant to be a new era of PC running Windows 10X — itself a new OS built for the experience.

A lot has changed since that fall. Surface Duo did come out nearly a year later, but it had a very rough start (something that has finally improved with Surface Duo 2). But Surface Neo, which was also supposed to come out "holiday 2020," never materialized.

Much of Surface Neo's limbo status is due to the abandonment of Windows 10X. As the pandemic gained ground, Microsoft refocused and doubled down on its desktop OS, merging the design of Windows 10X into a new OS dubbed Windows 11. The strategy worked: Windows 11 is a hit and has helped to reinvigorate the PC industry at the right time.

But what should happen with Surface Neo's hardware? Should Microsoft just put Android on it and make it a bigger brother of Surface Duo? There are some excellent reasons to do so. And a few reasons why it shouldn't.

Foldable PCs are a lot bigger

The first foldable PC is Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Fold. It's a device that I play with occasionally, but I have had difficulty getting into my workflow. When opened, the X1 Fold's 13.3-inch flexible QXGA (2048x1536) OLED is super impressive, but it's just too small to use as a laptop. Despite the appeal, it's also not light at 2.2lbs (999g), making it not that comfortable to hold as a book for long periods.

Interestingly, the next-gen of foldable PCs arriving later this year are much more significant. These will feature screens in the 16 to 17-inch range (e.g. ASUS ZenBook 17 Fold) and, when folded as laptops, will be closer to a 13-inch one making them a bit more natural. While you won't want to hold a 17-inch folding PC for long in one hand, you could prop the screen up to have a portable 17-inch PC with you, which is intriguing.

On the other hand, Surface Neo features two 9-inch screens that create a 13.1-inch one when fully spanned. It bucks the trend of where foldable PCs are headed.

And there's still this lingering issue: Windows 11 is not great as a tablet OS. And, as of right now, there are no features in Windows 11 that leverage dual- or foldable displays (although Snap Assist helps).

In short, while I find foldable PCs curious, my X1 Fold experience has left me skeptical of its usefulness as a laptop replacement. Microsoft is going to have to do much more to convince me otherwise.

Surface Neo with Android could make sense

With no Windows 10X on the horizon, the case for a dual-screen PC seems to fall flat as the OS is not optimized for it. Technically, neither is Android, but that's changing with Android 12L due later this year. Moreover, Microsoft already has experience improving Android for dual screens with Surface Duo and Surface Duo 2. In fact, it's getting pretty good at it. With Android app development poised to start optimizing for a larger screen, dual-screen, and foldable displays, the ecosystem is ahead of where Windows is right now.

Now, I'm no fan of Android on tablets, but tossing that OS onto Surface Neo with a dash of 5G makes the Surface Neo a lot more viable. Microsoft could still preload it with its growing cadre of Android apps and services, and, in effect, it'd just be a giant Surface Duo for those who want more screen real estate on the go. That's an easier sell, especially for those who desire a secondary device and don't want to replace their phone.

Related to this, Microsoft has made some recent moves to consolidate its Android efforts. Its latest reorg puts Android development as a core within the larger Microsoft Devices and Experiences group. It also seems to be hiring many more Android developers. In other words, its ambitions in the Android space seem more extensive than its current offerings.

A dangerous game?

Of course, the risks here are not lost on me either, especially for Windows. In a previous 2019 interview with The Verge, executive VP and Chief Product Officer, Panos Panay asks "… what's the right operating system for the form factor?" when talking about Surface Duo. He answers his question with "…in this case, on mobile devices, Android's the obvious choice. But anything above that, Windows is everything." Later, when asked about putting Android on Surface Neo, Panay has an interesting response:

Panay doubles down on Windows as the right choice for Surface Neo. But those comments were made before Windows 10X was axed, and the decision to push 17-inch foldable PCs came to light. How has thinking evolved now that those things have changed? Of course, we may never know unless Microsoft decides to resurrect Surface Neo either with Android or some optimized version of Windows 11.

But if Microsoft pursues Android, the risk is evident as it starts to bleed into the area where Windows is supposed to be dominant and undercuts previous messaging. It also acknowledges what is becoming more and more apparent: Android is the superior mobile OS, whereas Windows is the better desktop (and proper laptop) solution.

This discussion raises the fundamental question: What is Surface Neo — a tablet or a laptop? Because how you answer determines which OS is the better fit.

So, what to do about Surface Neo? I'm not entirely sure. Ideally, Microsoft would have a fantastic mobile version of Windows optimized for dual screens ready to go. But they don't, and we haven't heard anything to suggest they do. That's the reality here. While far from my first choice, Android makes sense from a development and marketing point of view, especially if you think of Neo as a tablet or just a bigger Surface Duo rather than a laptop.

On the other hand, maybe Surface Neo should not exist at all — it's a device too in-between to be anything.

We're back with another exciting episode of the Windows Central Podcast, and this week, Zac and Dan have a look at new Windows 11 features coming to the Dev Channel, and HoloLens 3 may not be dead after all. There's also talk about Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 benchmarks, NVIDIA's failed acquisition of Arm, and more.

This episode of the Windows Central Podcast was recorded on March 4th 2022.

Links:

• Microsoft suspends sales of products and services in Russia | Windows Central
• AMD and Intel reportedly are suspending processor shipments for industrial use to Russia | Windows Central
• Hands-on with the new tablet mode improvements coming soon to Windows 11 | Windows Central
• Surface Duo 2 gets its Feb update with improvements for touch, camera, performance, animations, and more | Windows Central
• Samsung announces four new Galaxy Book2 laptops at Mobile World Congress with Intel 12th Gen | Windows Central
• Best PCs and biggest news from MWC 2022 | Windows Central
• Lenovo unveils new ThinkBook 13s Gen 4 and 14s Yoga Gen 2 at MWC 2022 | Windows Central
• Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's son Zain has died at age 26 | Windows Central

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What you need to know

• Surface Neo made a cameo appearance in a new movie on Netflix.
• The movie, called "Red Notice," features Ryan Reynolds playing with a Neo.
• This doesn't mean the Surface Neo is coming soon, unfortunately.

Surface fans this week have spotted a new Surface Neo cameo in Netflix's just released "Red Notice" movie starring The Rock, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds. The movie, which has been in development since 2019, is the second piece of entertainment media to feature the now "postponed indefinitely" Surface Neo, after WandaVision featured the product earlier this year.

Now, before you get your hopes up, the appearance of Surface Neo in a newly released movie does not mean that Microsoft is ready to release Surface Neo again. Microsoft's official stance on the Surface Neo is that it will arrive when the time is right, but Windows Central understands that nothing has changed internally, and that there are still no plans to release Surface Neo anytime soon.

So, why has Surface Neo appeared in a new movie if it's not something Microsoft intends to ship? Simply put, the movie has been in development since 2019. Principle photography (the part where most of the movie is filmed) began in January 2020, during a time where the Surface Neo was "on track" to ship in the fall of that year. Microsoft had likely already made product placement deals with movie studios, which included the Neo at this time.

This means that the scenes where the Surface Neo are featured were filmed before COVID-19 hit, and before Microsoft ultimately decided to cancel the Surface Neo indefinitely. So that's why the Surface Neo is showing up in a new movie released this year; because the movie was filmed back when the Surface Neo was a real product that Microsoft intended to ship.

Unfortunately, there appears to be no sign of Surface Neo showing up any time soon. Surface Neo was hit with a one-two punch quite early on after it was announced, with the cancelation of Windows 10X not long followed by the cancelation of Intel's Lakefield chipset, which powered Surface Neo. So not only was Surface Neo left without an OS, but it was also left without a SoC to power everything. So it was back to the drawing board for Microsoft.

If Surface Neo ever does ship, I very much doubt it'll be the same product that was announced in 2019. I would suspect Microsoft will give it a new chipset and update the design to match the latest Surface Duo at least, and that assumes Microsoft still deems there to be a market for very pricey dual-screen PCs. People have scoffed at the pricing of Surface Duo, and the Surface Neo was only going to be even more expensive.

Welcome to the ninth episode of Ask Windows Central, a show where we answer our community's most asked questions around Microsoft, Windows, Surface, Xbox, and the general tech industry. In today's episode, we answer questions about WCOS and Surface Neo, the M1 Pro and Max, and the Insider Beta Channel.

This week's episode features the following questions:

• Do you think (us) Windows users should have an inferiority complex in the context of M1 Macs?
• Whatever happened to Windows Core OS? Did the project get cancelled, or was it rolled into Windows 11?
• Will the Surface Neo ever be released?
• What is the actual purpose of the Beta Insider ring?

If you have a question you'd like us to answer on the show, be sure to submit them in the comments below, or email daniel@windowscentral.com with "Ask Windows Central" in the subject line! You can also join the Windows Central Discord and ask questions in the dedicated #ask-wc channel.

If you're on Twitter, you can tweet your question with the #AskWindowsCentral tag included, and make sure you tag either @daniel_rubino or @zacbowden so we can see it.

If you have any feedback about the show format, please let us know. We're building this show around you, so if there's something you don't like or think we should change, we're all ears. We hope you enjoy the episode, and look forward to getting back to your questions in the next one.

We're back with another exciting episode of the Windows Central Podcast, and this week, Dan and Zac talk about the new build of Windows 11 and weigh the pros and cons of moving forward with new UI choices and features vs. maintaining the status quo. They also check out price drops on Surface Duo, the would-be processor for Surface Neo that's already been discontinued by Intel, AMD laptop chip performance shadiness, and more.

This episode of the Windows Central Podcast was recorded on July 9th 2021.

Links:

• Windows 11 build 22000.65 rolls out to Insiders in the Dev Channel with more changes | Windows Central
• Do you want the Windows 10 Start menu back on Windows 11? | Windows Central
• Microsoft removes ability to put Windows 10 Start menu on Windows 11 in latest Insider build | Windows Central
• Intel just discontinued the processor that powered the Surface Neo | Windows Central
• Some AMD laptops reduce system performance for better battery life, but is that OK? | Windows Central
• Razer Blade 14 review: Razer's first AMD gaming laptop is insanely powerful with some quirks | Windows Central
• Windows 11 | Windows Central
• Microsoft's Surface Duo down to an insane price of just $410 | Windows Central

Subscribe to the podcast

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• Listen via: Windows Central app Windows 10 | Android
• Subscribe via iTunes
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Hosts

• Daniel Rubino
• Zac Bowden

Make this show great by participating!

Send in your comments, questions, and feedback to:

• Email: wcpodcast@windowscentral.com
• Twitter: @WindowsCentral with hashtag #wcpodcast

Recent reports are suggesting that Windows 10X is not happening anytime soon. After being delayed in 2020 with the company promising a shift in strategy to single-screened PCs, Microsoft now appears to have put the whole thing on hold. That means the Surface Neo is OS-less, and that's not good.

We've not had an official update about Windows 10X or Surface Neo in over a year, which gives the impression that Microsoft doesn't actually know what to do with Windows 10X now that Sun Valley for Windows 10 desktop is in the works. As a refresher, Sun Valley is a UI effort that aims to reinvigorate Windows Desktop with a modern interface, new features, and better performance across PC and tablet form factors.

Windows 10X was a promising idea; a modern version of Windows that is more secure, with faster Windows Updates, a modern and fresh desktop UI, and a smaller footprint in size and lower performance requirements. On paper, it's the best version of Windows yet, but in practice, it's not the best version of "Windows" at all. Windows 10X is a version of Windows without native support for the majority of Windows applications.

Windows applications are made up of mostly legacy Win32 apps, with a small number of apps adopting Microsoft's modern universal Windows 10 app platform. It's the universal app platform that runs "natively" on Windows 10X, with Win32 apps being delegated to running in a virtualized container. This is more secure, but it comes at the cost of app performance as to get those apps running, the OS needs to essentially spin up full Windows 10 in the background.

Microsoft has been considering shipping Windows 10X without Win32 virtualization support at launch because running those apps on a low-end PC is untenable. But even then, we don't know if Microsoft will actually ship Windows 10X at this point. A lot has changed in the last year, and Sun Valley has taken precedent internally as the most important thing for Windows today.

Ship the Surface Neo with Windows 10 (not 10X)

So, if Windows 10X doesn't ship, what will Microsoft do with Surface Neo or the OEM partners who were building dual-screen/foldable PCs with Windows 10X in mind? I think the answer is obvious, and there's already precedent for this; ship it with another operating system. This is the story of Surface Duo, which was first envisioned as a Windows device but shipped as an Android device.

I'm not saying Microsoft should ship Surface Neo with Android — that's the last thing I want to see happen. Nobody wants Microsoft to make an Android PC/tablet hybrid like the Neo, as Android is notoriously bad on those kind of form factors. Microsoft's time would be better spent improving the tablet experience on Windows 10 instead.

With Sun Valley, I have a feeling that Microsoft is taking touch and pen experiences seriously again. This is good news for a device like Surface Neo, which puts those input types front and center. The only issue stopping Surface Neo from shipping with Windows 10 right now is the static and old Windows interface that isn't adaptable to the many postures that Surface Neo introduces.

Microsoft could fix this with Sun Valley by introducing a modern interface that can adapt to the Surface Neo's three main postures: book mode, laptop mode, and tablet mode. Windows 10 already supports dual-screens, which with some tweaks, could work nicely with the book posture.

Windows 10 also already has a tablet mode, which isn't great, but assuming Sun Valley fixes top complaints, that issue is partially solved. But Windows 10 is missing a dedicated laptop mode for the Surface Neo and indeed other foldable PCs. It's one of the reasons why Lenovo's Yoga X1 Fold isn't great to use, after shipping with full Windows that doesn't have a "laptop" mode.

Microsoft would need to introduce a mode that could recognize when a foldable device was being used in the laptop posture. On Windows 10X, the OS shifts the desktop UI to one side and places the virtual keyboard and trackpad on the other. Interestingly, Microsoft has already introduced the Windows 10X touch keyboard on the desktop in the latest Insider builds, which even includes the "Wunderbar."

A virtual trackpad is already built into Windows desktop too. All Microsoft needs to do is combine those and align them correctly on one half of the display, when a user initiates the laptop posture, and you've got yourself a working laptop mode for a device like Surface Neo or the Lenovo X1 Fold. That's oversimplifying the work required to make this happen, but the plumbing for something like this seems to already be in place.

Time will tell

All in all, I don't know what Microsoft is going to do with Surface Neo. Maybe Microsoft will eventually ship it with Windows 10X if the OS is ever deemed ready, but the Surface Neo's hardware is aging fast, and the longer the company waits, the harder a sell the Surface Neo (as announced) will be. People were already complaining about the bezels in 2019, and by the time it ships, it will have been years.

If Microsoft wants to salvage what they have regarding the hardware, it needs to launch ASAP, and that could happen if they just ship it with the Sun Valley release of Windows 10. The other benefits of Windows Core OS (WCOS) such as faster Windows updates are things that Surface Neo will just have to miss out on, but that's better than not having a chance to use the hardware at all.

I think (hope) that with Sun Valley, Windows 10 desktop will be in a much better position to ship on a device like Surface Neo. But what are your thoughts? Should Microsoft ship it with Windows 10 desktop, sit on it until Windows 10X is ready, or if Windows 10X never ships, outright cancel it? Let us know in the comments.

What you need to know

• A newly leaked video looks behind the curtain at some of the research that went into designing Surface Neo and Surface Duo.
• Microsoft used a set of wrist sensors to measure tension while using the dual-screen devices.
• The company also employed EEG tests to measure how productive people were with two screens compared to one.

A presentation apparently leaked from within Microsoft this weekend offers an interesting look at the research that went into developing the Surface Neo and Surface Duo. Specifically, the presenter showed how Microsoft used a combination of wrist sensors and electroencephalograms (EEG) to measure the comfort and productivity of using dual-screen devices. The video appeared on Twitter over the weekend from prominent Microsoft leaker WalkingCat.

https://twitter.com/h0x0d/status/1253938567656558592?s=20

With the wrist sensors, the presenter explains that Microsoft measured the hand and arm tension while working with Surface Neo and Surface Duo to determine how easy it is to hold. Beyond that, Microsoft measured brain activity to determine that productivity increased when using a dual-screen device when compared to a single-screen device.

"So that's where we found out that in a dual-screen, we saw even that there's more neural activity in the brain going on and you can process things better when you're using a dual-screen device," the presenter explains.

This type of research is something Microsoft has turned to for more than just Surface devices. The company has also engaged in research to improve the Xbox Series X controller so that it can be used by a wider range of hand sizes. That's in addition to the work it has done with the Xbox Adaptive Controller.

Surface Duo and Surface Neo are expected to launch later in 2020. Both were announced with holiday 2020 launch dates, but recent reporting indicates that Surface Neo and its operating system, Windows 10X, may be delayed beyond 2020. Surface Duo could see an earlier launch this summer.

What you need to know

• Windows 10X will not be launching in 2020.
• This means PCs like Surface Neo are delayed.
• Surface Duo still on track for 2020.

Microsoft's upcoming Windows 10X and Surface Neo products may not be shipping in time for the holiday after all, according to a new report from ZDNet's Mary-Jo Foley. This means that other Windows 10X devices from third-party manufactures also won't be launching at the end of this year like originally planned. Microsoft's dual-screen Windows 10X effort has been put on pause.

I have also heard from my own sources that Windows 10X has been delayed beyond 2020. Interestingly, Mary-Jo Foley says that Microsoft wants to prioritize bringing Windows 10X to single-screen devices first, a monumental shift in strategy for Windows 10X as a whole, which so far has been all about dual-screen support.

Windows 10X on a single-screened device is codenamed Pegasus, and is an effort Microsoft has been working on alongside bringing Windows 10X to dual-screen devices. It was a surprise when Microsoft announced Windows 10X that was going to be for dual-screen PCs as those who knew better understood that was not the case. Mary-Jo Foley's report suggests Microsoft is returning to its original idea instead of pushing for the dual-screen form factor first.

Unfortunately, we won't be seeing Windows 10X on any device form factors this year. Microsoft needs more time to finish the OS, and it's likely the ongoing pandemic hasn't helped in getting that done. The good news is Microsoft may be planning to bring some of the technological advancements found on Windows 10X over to full Windows 10, such as the ability to run legacy programs virtualized.

I'm still hearing that Surface Duo is on track for this year, and could launch as soon as this summer. But Surface Neo, and Windows 10X, looks to be coming at a later date now.

Microsoft's first dual-screen PC is launching later this year under the name Surface Neo, and it'll also be Microsoft's first device to ship with Windows 10X. It's a new form factor, which means there's a lot of exciting potential for Microsoft and customers to take advantage of this new device. We still don't know a lot about Surface Neo, so here are a few things we're hoping to see part of the product at launch.

A new dock

Surface Neo is the first Surface PC in a while that doesn't include the magnetic Surface Connect port for charging and other peripherals. It has a single USB-C port, which is a capable replacement. Still, there's no official Surface Dock from Microsoft that works natively with a USB-C port, and that might be a problem for anyone looking to dock Surface Neo up to an external display with multiple peripherals plugged in at the same time.

The current Surface Dock is super old, being released back in 2015 alongside the Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book. So it's fair to say that the Surface Dock is overdue a refresh, and one that has USB-C support would be an excellent update for newer Surface owners as all Surface PCs now include USB-C in some capacity.

Haptics

Haptics on a tablet seems like an unnecessary addition, but when you consider the fact that Surface Neo is actually a PC with a virtual keyboard and trackpad, haptics becomes much more important. If Microsoft expects anyone to take Surface Neo seriously as a PC, it needs to make the virtual keyboard and trackpad the best it can be.

One way to enhance this experience is with good haptics. Apple already understands this and has been putting excellent haptics into the iPhone for a while. MacBook also has something called a force trackpad, which doesn't physically move yet provides a satisfying click regardless. If Microsoft can build that kind of technology into the Surface Neo, that would go a long way to enhancing the typing and touchpad experience.

More colors

So far, Microsoft has only showcased the Surface Neo in white. It's a glass device, meaning it can be made available in different colors if Microsoft wanted. I'd love to see a black version, along with a red and blue version for those who like a little more vibrancy.

These colors could easily extend to the Surface Neo's accessories too. The magnetic keyboard and slim pen could also be made available in similar colors to match the Surface Neo, and I think the different combinations of colors would go a long way to helping customers make Surface Neo their own.

LTE capabilities

This one is a given, but I'd love to see LTE capabilities built right into Surface Neo. Neo is a mobile productivity PC, and mobile makes it nimble enough to carry in a bag. It's the perfect form factor for an always-connected modem built right in, whether that be with a physical NanoSIM or via eSIM. And in many ways, it could be a huge mistake to avoid having LTE built into Surface Neo.

What are your thoughts?

That's what we're hoping to see in Surface Neo when it launches later this year. What are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments.

Microsoft today shared some of the first vital details about how Windows 10X works, including releasing the emulator so developers can get started optimizing apps for the dual-screen experience.

The big takeaway, though, is Windows 10X runs all its apps in containers. Here is what that means, why it's good, and what types of apps you will be able to run on Windows 10X and devices like the Surface Neo.

They just run

1. Three containers, but one experience

Think of containers as siloed boxes that are abstracted from the operating system, allowing finer control over their behavior.

For Windows 10X all applications run in containers, but there is no configuration, or any high-level changes needed by developers to utilize these; they are just part of the OS architecture.

Specifically, there are three types of containers, one of which is new (Win32)

1. Win32 Container: Runs "classic" x86 32 and 64-bit Win32 apps, WinForms, WPF, Electron, etc. and is a similar environment to Desktop OS. There is just a single container for all Win32 applications and is "highly compatible" with all existing software.
2. Full-trust MSIX Container: High compatibility with existing apps. These run in isolation from other Win32 apps and also run as a container within a Win32 Container on Windows 10X.
3. All UWP apps: Lowest system overhead, best performance, and battery life, and best security and privacy controls of all the systems.

For consumers, there is nothing to know about this experience. Most Win32 apps and all UWP apps should just run as-is on Windows 10X. You click the app, it opens, and it runs. It also doesn't matter where you install it from, whether it is the Microsoft Store, the web, or a USB drive.

Whether developers choose to continue with Win32 "classic" desktop apps, Progressive Web Apps (PWA), or UWP is up to them. For obvious reasons, UWP is the most optimized for Windows 10X, but Microsoft has gone to great lengths to ensure those classic desktop apps run just fine too.

Built for mobility

2. Containers optimize battery life and performance

UWP apps are still the best-optimized app platform for Windows 10X. This shouldn't be a revelation, as they were initially designed with Windows Phone (Windows Mobile) in mind and built for mobility. UWP apps maximize security, battery, performance, and respect OS-level suspend and resume events.

Win32 applications were built primarily for a desktop experience. They lack the mobile optimization of UWP. As a result, while they tend to be more potent than UWP, they tend to be worse for battery life and speed. But Win32 "classic" apps are still very valuable even in 2020 to the modern mobile computing experience.

Microsoft "fixes" this issue with Win32 (and MSIX) apps through the Win32 Container. Here's how:

1. Win32 + MSIX Containers reduce resources when no windows are visible.
2. Apps are suspended entirely when no windows are open.

Win32 and MSIX apps, when minimized (and when closed), are entirely cut-off from running in the background. As a result, this saves system resources and battery. Conversely, when the Win32 app is being actively used, it gets devoted more resources to it to ensure performance.

There are two consequences to this behavior change, though. For one, "classic" Win32 apps likely won't be able to run background tasks – at least not for very long – before the container is suspended. The other is Win32 apps can't auto-start with Windows 10X. That latter is mostly due to the fact there is no System Tray in Windows 10X, so "classic" apps can't continuously run in the background.

Interestingly, Microsoft may let users control this behavior so that the Win32 Container (and Win32 apps) can run in the background. This has not yet been decided as of yet.

Finally, due to the design of the Win32 and MSIX containers, anti-malware and anti-virus systems are also either not needed or will have a dramatically reduced overhead, which, again, results in improved system performance and battery life.

Drivers, peripherals and more

3. Everything should work

Interestingly, just because Win32 apps are containerized on Windows 10X doesn't make them any less powerful. Microsoft states these apps still get full access to things like:

• Mouse, keyboard, pen, touch.
• DirectX graphics, audio, media.
• Networking.
• Printing.

That means the old "Plug and Play" model is still in effect here, and a PC like the Surface Neo should be able to run anything you plug into it, including external monitors and peripherals.

Security is also enhanced, too, as the user can deny access to all Win32 classic apps for things like the PC's camera, microphone, and even location. UWP apps already do this on an individual app-level permission system, but in Windows 10X, users can shut it all down for all Win32 apps at the container-level if they choose.

Since there is no System Tray in Windows 10X, those "classic" apps can't use it. But even if those apps make calls to things in Windows 10X that don't exist doesn't mean app instability. Microsoft says these apps can operate "as is" (meaning no registry changes), but due to the container, those calls will never touch the OS. Translation: there should be no app crashing due to limits imposed by the Win32 container.

Why you need both

4. Two File Explorers (kind of)

Reflecting the dual nature of the Windows 10X experience, where UWP and Win32 apps live side by side, is the use of two File Explorers, including the File Save As experience.

This fact sounds confusing, but it's not. Win32 applications can still utilize the "classic" File Explorer and dialog for choosing files system-wide, including accessing system folders. This feature is vital as Win32 apps expect that dialog to exist to pick and save files needed for the program.

Using the file dialog in a UWP app or Windows 10X (the "host operating system"), however, brings up the "modern" File Explorer, which is limited to necessary libraries like Videos, Music, Favorites, Documents, Pictures, and more.

For the user, this means they get basic-level access to the main libraries, but not the OS-level file structure like in the desktop OS (Windows 10). But those Win32 apps still run as they should without any code change.

The big picture

5. Apps run maximized (for now)

In a conversation with Kevin Gallo, CVP of the Microsoft Developer Platform, we were told that, currently, apps on Windows 10X run full screen (i.e. maximized). This experience is like how apps ran on Windows 8 and in the current Windows 10 Tablet Mode experience.

The reason for that choice is screen size: the smaller the display, the more information-dense the experience. Running five small-windowed apps on a single 9-inch display (spanning 13.1 across both displays) is unlikely to be a popular scenario.

This maximized-vs-windowed topic is very debatable, and Microsoft is not inflexible on the issue. Should developers prefer the option to allow smaller windowed apps on Windows 10X, the company may allow that.

UWP is still key

Wrap Up: Windows 10X is complicated yet simple

Microsoft architected Windows 10X so that it is app neutral. Electron, UWP, Win32, WinForms, WPF — it doesn't matter. All those apps run on Windows 10X, mostly without any significant changes to the code.

I think the easiest way to think of it is about design and priority:

• Windows 10 Home/Pro: Made on and for running Win32 apps, but can also run UWP
• Windows 10X: Made on and for running UWP but can also run Win32.

Microsoft would probably not classify it quite that way, but Windows 10X is built to be fast, fluid, mobile, and secure. Indeed, OS updates should take no more than 90 seconds. That's because, like HoloLens, it's built around the siloed and restricted nature of UWP.

The good news for consumers, or anyone buying a dual-screen PC like the Surface Neo, is that none of this matters. You can install any app you want, and the expected behavior is respected. Developers also should not have any significant changes to their apps — even older Win32 ones — to get them to run on Windows 10X.

Moreover, Gallo reminds us that these dual-screen optimized apps should also deliver a better experience on Windows 10 desktop systems too. This feature is a clear example of Windows 10X trickling back up to Windows 10.

Of course, how it all works remains to be seen, but Microsoft says the performance delta between Win32 and UWP apps on Windows 10X should not be perceptible to the users. That's an exciting prospect as we move into a new era of mobile PC computing where users won't have to make compromises.

Much of this information was gleaned from the Microsoft 365 Developer Day video How Windows 10X runs UWP and Win32 apps.

Going into this year's Surface event, we expected it to be one of the biggest in years, and Microsoft delivered. Surface chief Panos Panay and team took to the stage to take the wraps off of not only yearly refreshes for the Surface Pro and Surface Laptop, also the new ARM-powered Surface Pro X and a peek at Surface Neo.

But, of course, there was much more than new Surfaces to gawk at.

If you weren't able to catch the stream, or just want to quickly recap what Microsoft announced, here's a look at everything debuted at the fall 2019 Surface event.

Surface Neo

The biggest star of the show today was the thing Microsoft saved for last: Surface Neo. Previously only known under the codename Centaurus, Surface Neo is Microsoft's upcoming foldable, dual-screen device. We only got a teaser on stage, but Microsoft is using Surface Neo to set the stage for what it sees as the next big innovation in PCs.

With each edge measuring in at 5.6mm thin, Microsoft says the screen packs the thinnest LCD seen on a computing device so far. There's a 360-degree hinge that uses micro-gears to rotate the two 9-inch screens around each other. The new Surface Slim Pen magnetically attaches to the back and charges at the same time.

For those worried about typing, a detachable keyboard magnetically seals to the back of the device and can be flipped on top of the bottom display at any time. The Surface Neo also includes an Intel Lakefield processor with a custom graphics engine. The chip allowed Microsoft to keep the Neo thing and light due to its size.

Surface Neo very much adheres to the aesthetic foundation the Microsoft has laid with the rest of the Surface lineup. However, from what we've seen so far, the device makes great use of its two displays, working much like a journal of sorts that's also a PC.

The Surface Neo will run a special version of Windows 10 called Windows 10X. The OS is built specifically for foldable PCs, which Microsoft is expecting to start hitting the market in the holiday 2020 timeframe from manufacturers like Dell, HP, and Lenovo.

Surface Duo

It finally happened: Microsoft is getting back in the phone game. The Surface Duo is a smaller version of the Surface Neo running Android. The design features the same sort of 360-degree hinge as the Surface Neo, but with smaller, 5.6-inch displays.

Microsoft is focusing firmly on productivity with the Surface Duo, with an emphasis on multitasking and blurring the line between your PC and phone. The phone runs Microsoft Launcher, and, of course, supports all of the apps available on Google Play.

Surface Duo is expected to release in the holiday 2020 timeframe.

Windows 10X

While we got a tease for the folding Surface Neo, Microsoft went into a bit more depth on Windows 10X. This special OS has been designed from the ground up for foldable devices, featuring a new UX, Start Menu, Taskbar, Action Center, and more. The design is also more consistent across the board with all of these elements.

Because it will be running on foldable devices, Windows 10X is highly adaptable and modular. The shell can adjust on the fly, which will be particularly important if you're moving from one orientation to another. Crucially, this isn't a separate OS, however. It's built on the same universal Windows Core OS foundation that powers things like Surface Hub 2X, and HoloLens 2.

Because of that shared foundation, you'll be able to run all of the same apps that you can on Windows 10, but Windows 10X handles things a little differently. Universal Windows Platform (UWP) from the Microsoft Store will work as you'd expect, but Windows 10X can also run Win32 apps. However, Microsoft has docoupled the components needed to run Win32 apps from the core system, which allows Windows 10X to tap into them only when needed and put them to sleep when not in use. This means you should see more consistent performance as the OS makes smarter use of what it needs whenit needs it.

Microsoft expects Windows 10X to launch alongside foldable PCs in the holiday 2020 timeframe. The company doesn't currently plan to offer the OS to devices that are already running Windows 10, so you'll have to purchase a new PC running it once it's available.

For more of an in-depth look at Windows 10X, check out our full dive into the OS.

Surface Pro X

The Surface Pro X is the first Surface to run Windows 10 on ARM. More importantly, it's the first drastic overhaul of the Surface Pro design that we've seen in some time.

The Surface Pro X features a slim, light design that's bolstered by a 13-inch screen that features slim bezels more akin to those on the latest iPad Pro. While the 2-in-1 tablet keeps some of the mainstay features of the Surface Pro 7, including the kickstand and detachable keyboard, its overall design is much sleeker than its beefier sibling.

More impressively, the Surface Pro X runs a custom Microsoft SQ1 mobile chipset, which is built on Qualcomm tech. Microsoft claimes this chip is three times more powerful per watt than the Surface Pro 6, and the company has integrated some impressive AI processing with the platform.

The detachable keyboard and Surface Pen have also seen significant changes. The new Surface Pen can be wirelessly charged, and there's now a dedicated cradle at the top of the keyboard that will hold the stylus on the go. Once you slot the Surface Pen into the cradle, you can fold the keyboard up against the display and keep it charged as you travel.

The device is also forward-thinking in terms of ports, with two USB-C ports tagging along. For charging, Microsoft has kept the Surface Connect port around, however.

The Surface Pro X may represent Microsoft's vision for the future of the Surface lineup, acting as a testbed for major design changes. More importantly, this is Microsoft throwing its weight behind Windows 10 on ARM, which may have an effect on the tepid response we've seen from PC manufacturers thus far if it garners a positive response.

The Surface Pro X is up for preorder today and is set to launch on November 5 and is available to preorder now starting at $999.

Surface Laptop 3

The Surface Laptop 3 is more of a gradual evolution of the Surface Laptop 2, but there's are some big new additions here as well. Most notably, you can now get the Surface Laptop 3 in two size: 13 inches or 15 inches.

The new, larger model is available without the Surface Laptop's signature Alcantara fabric covering, meaning you can now pick up the laptop in a a full-metal chassis. This has the effect of making it look more like other premium laptops on the market, but it's a solid change for those who may be worried about the wear and tear on the fabric over time. For the first time, Microsoft has tapped AMD to provide the CPUs in the 15-inch model as well.

The 13-inch Surface Laptop 3 still resembles the Surface Laptop 2, but with an upgrade to Intel's 10th Gen Core CPUs. Both the 13-inch and 15-inch variants now include replaceable storage drives, so you can swap the SSD out for more storage in the future. You'll now get a single USB-C port on Surface Laptop 3, in addition to a USB-A port.

Finally, there are now some new colors to get your hands on, including "Sandstone Yellow," "Poppy Red," and "Glacier Blue."

Surface Laptop 3 is up for preorder now and is expected to launch on October 22 starting at $999.

Surface Pro 7

The new Surface Pro 7 represents a much more modest refresh this year. There's no design overhaul, as seen with the Surface Pro X. Rather, the Surface Pro 7 carries forward the same design seen in the Surface Pro 6.

What is new is that Microsoft has swapped out a USB-A port for USB-C. Now you'll have one USB-C and one USB-A port to use. USB-C was something Surface fans have been clamoring for for some time, but it appears Microsoft isn't quite ready to go all-in on the port for its flagship Surface just yet.

The Surface Pro 7 now comes with Intel's 10th Gen Core CPUs, ranging from a Core i3 up to a Core i7. You'll also now get LPDDR4x RAM, which should make for a a noticeable improvement in performance over the LPDDR3 RAM in the Surface Pro 6.

Surface Pro 7 is up for preorder now and is expected to launch on October 22 starting at $750.

New Surface Slim Pen

The new Surface Slim Pen debuted alongside the Surface Pro X. The stylus now includes wireless charging, which is a change from the replaceable batteries on previous versions of the Surface Pen.

When paired with the Surface Pro X, you can stash the pen in a dedicated cradle at the top of the device's detachable keyboard. The new design allows you to stow the Surface Pen in the cradle and fold the keyboard up against the display. This allows the Pen to charge while you're on the go and will be the pen of choice with Surface Neo next year.

Microsoft says that the Surface Slim Pen is "compatible with a wide variety of Surface devices," but there's no concrete list available just yet.

Surface Earbuds

Last year, we got Surface Headphones. This year, Microsoft is tackling the earbud market.

The Surface Buds look a little odd, with a circular, white design the definitely stands out. However, inside, they're packing some of the same smarts that powered the Surface Headphones. You'll be able to communicate with Cortana with voice commands at any time, and that large circular exterior serves as a touch surface for issuing command like skipping songs or interacting with calls.

The Surface Earbuds feature 24-hour battery life, charge in a dedicated case, and work on all platforms. The touch features can also work hand-in-hand with Spotify, allowing you to start playing with a couple of taps. Amazingly, even Office is integrated, allowing you to do things like create captions in real-time during PowerPoint presentations.

Surface Buds are expected to launch "later this year" starting at $250.