Microsoft's canceled dual-screen version of Windows Phone has leaked, and you can now try it on a Surface Duo

In 2018, Microsoft canceled plans to ship a new Windows-based OS designed from the ground up for a new dual-screen phone form factor, codenamed Andromeda. This special version of Windows would have been a continuation of Windows Phone, but it unfortunately never saw the light of day.

The phone itself ended up shipping as Surface Duo, but when it launched it was running Android instead of Windows. To this day, we've never really had a chance experience this mythical dual-screen version of Windows Phone for ourselves, that is until now.

Released just a few days ago, developer Gustave Monce has painstakingly ported over a recently leaked build of Andromeda OS to the Surface Duo, and packaged it into an easy to install FFU file that you can flash onto your device using his own flashing utility. This build is said to be from after the project was canceled, meaning it's still unfinished, but is our best look yet at what the company was working on before it was abandoned.

I've detailed Microsoft's plans for Andromeda OS countless times in the past, but now I get to experience it for myself on a real dual-screen device, and it's very unique. Microsoft was planning to really embrace the idea of a digital pocket notebook with Andromeda, complete with a home screen that's actually a digital notebook that's always ready for you to take notes on.

The OS exists above the notebook, with things like the Start menu and Cortana being accessible with gestures swiping from either the left or right edge of the screen. By default, apps open on the left but can be dragged over to the right display, and multitasking is automatic with apps moving over when necessary.

It's so fascinating to see the Start menu with Live Tiles on a Surface Duo, especially when you consider the fact that this was the original plan for Microsoft's dual-screen phone. Windows in your pocket, running modern UWP apps on a unique and modern OS that was designed to continue Microsoft's Windows phone ambitions.

Unfortunately, the build of Andromeda OS that runs on Surface Duo is very buggy, mainly because Andromeda OS was never finished. Monce says that he's working to address some issues such as postures and sleep not functioning as intended, but general stability and UI bugs are unlikely to be addressable.

If you want to try out this leaked build of Andromeda OS on your Surface Duo, be warned that installing it will wipe your Android data in the process. You can set up a dual-boot scenario, but it will remove all your user data.

This isn't Monce's first time venturing into porting Windows onto the Surface Duo either. He was the main developer behind bringing Windows 10 and Windows 11 to Surface Duo, as well as Microsoft's other canceled dual-screen version of Windows, known as Windows 10X.

With Andromeda OS now out there in the wild, we can finally close the book on this chapter of Microsoft, Windows Phone, and Surface's history. Between 2016 and 2018, there was an effort to push Windows Phone into a new category. It's such a shame it never saw the light of day.

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