Microsoft will release Windows 10X as a first web operating system without local Win32 application support

Microsoft has kept its lips tight on its plans for Windows 10X. After announcing a pivot from dual-screen PC to single-screen PC, the company has yet to detail what to expect from Windows 10X when it launches next year, including how Microsoft plans to position Windows 10X alongside its older brother Windows. 10, now that they both run on the same form factors.

I know that many have been eager to get new information about Windows 10X, as have I, and have been closely monitoring the development of Windows 10X internally. Until recently, not much had changed in Windows 10X builds, but in the past few weeks I have received several reliable sources to confirm the removal of an important feature.

VAIL, the technology that Microsoft uses to virtualize legacy Win32 programs in Windows 10X through containers, has been removed from the latest internal builds of the operating system. I’m told this is a deliberate change as the company moves to reposition Windows 10X as a platform designed to compete on the low end, face to face with Chromebooks with web apps in the front and center.

The pivot for single-screen PCs is driving this change. Originally planned as a flagship premium PC operating system in the foldable space, Windows 10X will now launch at the other end of the spectrum, in low-cost tablets and laptops designed for the educational and business markets.

Microsoft’s local Win32 application layer will not be present when these low-cost PCs are released with Windows 10X next year. Users will be able to run UWP applications and web applications powered by Microsoft Edge, but not legacy Win32 programs. Web applications will be the determining factor for the availability of applications in Windows 10X, just like Chrome OS.

Keep Windows 10X ‘lite’

I’m told that the big reason VAIL won’t be part of Windows 10X on these low-cost PCs is because of the app’s performance and battery life. These low-end devices simply aren’t powerful enough to virtualize legacy Win32 applications on top of Windows 10X without slowing things down, frustrating the purpose of Windows 10X being a modern, lightweight version of Windows.

However, Microsoft knows that shipping a product called “Windows” without some form of legacy application compatibility is suicide. As such, Microsoft plans to ship Windows 10X with support for streaming legacy applications using the cloud. My sources have confirmed that this technology uses technology similar to the already available Windows Virtual Desktop, an enterprise service that allows companies to run cloud-installed applications on client PCs as if they were native.

Microsoft will look to the Chrome OS market in a big way with this change. It will target people who really only use web apps in their daily workflow. I was told that Microsoft will push web versions of apps like Office, Skype, and Teams instead of their Win32 or UWP counterparts to really bring home the idea that Windows 10X is a web-first operating system.

Interestingly, I was told that with the removal of VAIL, Microsoft can now continue Windows 10X on PC with ARM in addition to Intel. VAIL was originally the reason why Microsoft was limiting Windows 10X to Intel-based PCs, but with VAIL gone, that limitation is lifted. We’ll have to see if any ARM-based PCs will be ready when Windows 10X launches next year.

What does this mean for dual screen PCs?

My sources say that Microsoft still wants to release dual screen PCs eventually. With the ongoing pandemic and current economic conditions, Microsoft does not know when it will be. Launching an experimental premium PC market in these global conditions is risky, and Microsoft doesn’t want to launch Surface Neo until these conditions improve.

With that said, I was told that when Microsoft is ready to launch dual-screen PCs, VAIL should be included. VAIL isn’t rolling out on low-cost PCs due to performance issues, but I was told that these performance issues are less of a problem on devices with more powerful specs, like many of the folding and dual-screen PCs in the works.

Microsoft essentially plans to pair both ends of the Windows market with Windows 10X. You’ll see Windows 10X at the low end and the high end top with experimental form factors like foldable PCs. I was told that you probably won’t see Windows 10X on traditional PCs like the Dell XPS or HP Specter line any time soon. Outside of the experimental low-end and high-end, Microsoft wants OEMs to continue using legacy Windows 10.

In recent months, Microsoft has internally “refocused” its efforts on legacy Windows 10. I was told that Microsoft is planning significant updates to the Windows 10 user interface and experience in the next year or so, but I’m still looking for information on that. Microsoft has already confirmed to Windows Central that it plans to bring some of the Windows 10X innovations to Windows 10, and I’d bet that includes some of the modern interface changes of Windows 10X.

My sources say Microsoft plans to reach RTM status with Windows 10X in December and start launching the first low-cost Windows 10X PCs in the first half of 2021. Microsoft will likely use Surface Go 3 to show Windows 10X, as it would. It is wrong for Microsoft to launch a new version of Windows without its own hardware.

Reaching the full circle

If you’ve been following Windows 10X development since before the product was officially unveiled, you’ll know that reports originally described Windows 10X (codenamed Santorini and Windows Lite at the time) as a competitor to Chrome OS. This single-screen PC pivot targeting Chromebooks is not a recent idea; It has been part of the plan from the beginning.

Sometime between those initial plans and the introduction of Windows 10X in October 2019, Microsoft decided to stop its plans from the competing Chromebook and focus on the premium dual-screen market. A few months later, once the pandemic hit, Microsoft decided to go back to that original plan, launching Windows 10X on PCs that compete with Chromebooks first.

Of course, these plans could change again, but assuming they don’t, what do you think about Microsoft’s Windows 10X repositioning without local support from the Win32 app? Let us know in the comments.