- #MICROSOFT SURFACE DUO 2 OPERATING SYSTEM HOW TO#
- #MICROSOFT SURFACE DUO 2 OPERATING SYSTEM ANDROID#
- #MICROSOFT SURFACE DUO 2 OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE#
#MICROSOFT SURFACE DUO 2 OPERATING SYSTEM ANDROID#
Wired reports that the current Duo test builds run Android 9 Pie as the base.Īnd it goes to show that Microsoft has done its research unlike when it boldly came up with Windows Phone, which was a failure thanks to the lack of support from third-party app developers. So even though they will look similar as an OS, they are quite different underneath. Turns out, the Neo will be powered by Windows apps, while the Duo (which is the phone) will be powered by Android and apps from the Google Play Store. You see, Microsoft spoke about running Windows apps on Neo, but also spoke about its partnerships with Google on stage. It too runs on what appears to be Windows 10X, but is in reality Android. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset as per Wired. And that's about all we know about it.īut there’s one more detail here that sets the Neo and the Duo far apart even though they look similar in design, it's Windows 10X. With each display at 5.6-inches, it is the most compact Surface yet, and it’s the closest you can get to a smartphone from Microsoft because it can place calls. The Surface Duoįinally, we have a Surface phone from Microsoft, one with two displays that can run two apps independently on either display. And that’s pretty much you need to know about it. The Surface Neo will be powered by Intel silicon will feature two 9-inch screens that open up to become a 13-inch display. Simply put, it’s a tablet that folds to smaller and much more compact form factor than your regular Surface 2-in-1.īut at the same time, it gets you a detachable physical keyboard for those long emails, and the ability to use the second display as a trackpad, which also makes for a pointing device. The Surface NeoĪnd that brings us to the Surface Neo. Mind you, Microsoft’s Surface Neo will not be the only foldable device using Windows 10X in the future, the OS will be available on dual-screen and foldable devices by manufacturers like ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo as well. And all of these changes depend on how many displays you use at any given time and how you are holding a dual-display device.
#MICROSOFT SURFACE DUO 2 OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE#
The software basically allows the OS and its apps (only for Neo) to run in different modes, using either one display for each task (Netflix + Mail) or scrolling through a long web page that flows from one display to another. Microsoft’s goal with Windows 10X is to make apps accessible from posture to posture, which is not just from the couch in your living room to your office table and back but also the places in between. And this is why we have Windows 10X, that built for devices with bigger displays, ones that can run two apps simultaneously on two screens.
#MICROSOFT SURFACE DUO 2 OPERATING SYSTEM HOW TO#
So while it may not have a great deal of new-age (read post-iPhone) smartphones, it does know how to work with bigger screens like tablets.
With Windows, Microsoft has been working with desktops and tablets (Surface 2-in-1s) for long. While flexible OLED tech clearly isn’t ready (or tough enough) for day to day use, Microsoft's idea of using two displays covered in glass, at least makes it ready for smartphone users today. While Google has made accommodations for them with Android 10, the only proper production-ready device that has been launched so far is Samsung’s Galaxy Fold and we all know how it is doing right now.
And it’s also the reason why Android struggles to adapt to devices with bigger displays, which is where ‘foldables’ (or devices with folding displays) come in.
While Google (with Android) and its smartphone manufacturers pursue devices with folding displays (one display that folds), Microsoft has been dreaming of dual-display devices (two separate displays that work together) for several years.īoth ideas may sound similar, but Android was made to run on a smartphone first, which is partially the reason why there are few tablet apps. Simply put, Windows 10X came into existence to support devices with dual displays.