Microsoft Confirms that Windows 10X is Dead

A few weeks back, I scooped that Microsoft would not be bringing Windows 10X to market, and today, the company has confirmed my scoop. In a post announcing that Windows 10 20H1 was now available, the company provided an update on the future of the operating system.

As expected, Windows 10X is not coming in 2021 and will not be shipping as a product. As I noted in my previous post, the company is bringing 10X features and functionality to Windows 10.

From the blog post:

Instead of bringing a product called Windows 10X to market in 2021 like we originally intended, we are leveraging learnings from our journey thus far and accelerating the integration of key foundational 10X technology into other parts of Windows and products at the company. In fact, some of this is already reflected in the core of Windows in Windows Insider preview builds, for example the new app container technology we’re integrating into products like Microsoft Defender Application Guard, an enhanced Voice Typing experience, and a modernized touch keyboard with optimized key sizing, sounds, colors and animations. Our teams continue to invest in areas where the 10X technology will help meet our customer needs as well as evaluate technology experiences both in software and hardware that will be useful to our customers in the future.

While Windows 10X will not be coming to new devices and there are some who are certainly going to mourn that loss – it’s the right move. Windows 10X was headed was down a road that was trying to compete with Chromebooks but what OEMs and most users really want from Windows is customization and flexibility, something 10X does not provide.

For now, know that the work that had gone into 10X is not lost and will make its way to Windows 10. With that being said, Windows fans should be focusing on the Sun Valley update arriving this Fall but we should be hearing more about it not long after Build.