Microsoft has announced that Windows 10X is no longer releasing, confirming reports from earlier this month. In its blog post detailing the Windows 10 May 2021 Update, the company said that it decided the technology used in Windows 10X can be useful for more people than just a subset of Windows users.
Instead of releasing Windows 10X as its own product, Microsoft says it will take what it has learned from its initial development of the OS to improve the core Windows experience and other products. Some of those improvements are already showing up in Insider Preview builds, too, like an improved voice typing experience, a new touch keyboard, and more. Going forward, the company will keep looking into what aspects of the Windows 10X technology can enhance the experience for its customers, though it's not clear what that means.
The news isn't exactly surprising given how quiet Microsoft had been about the operating system since its statement over a year ago. At the time, Microsoft said that it was postponing the development of Windows 10X for dual-screen devices and instead focusing on single-screen experiences to meet its customers where they are. However, we heard nothing else about it from Microsoft since then.
As for Windows 10, the May 2021 Update was released to the general public today, and it brings very little that's new. It was initially believed that this might be in order to make room for a Windows 10X launch, which is obviously not happening. Now, it just remains to be seen what future updates will include.
Currently, Windows Insiders in the Dev channel are testing builds from the co_release branch, which would suggest we may be nearing a near-final build for the next feature update. However, Dev channel builds aren't technically tied to a Windows 10 feature update anymore, so we'll have to wait and see how Microsoft moves forward in the next few months.
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