Out of everything that was rumoured to be shown off at the event, I was most excited to finally get an official look at WCOS/Windows 10X. What was shown at the event has left me very much disappointed and expectation and mockups by the community have exceeded reality.
My first issue with Windows 10X is the corners. It's becoming pretty evident that Microsoft will be going all in with rounded corners on the next iteration of Windows System apps and on Windows 10X. My hope for the new OS was that it would give Microsoft an opportunity to build in support for rounded corner displays too. Although many hate to admit it rounded corner displays are the future starting on smart, watches leaking onto phones and then tablet and now expected to make their way onto some laptops. The issue for current Windows with this, is the placement of the 'close' button which would be cut away with rounded corners.
The elephant in the room when it comes to talking about Windows 10X flaws has to be it's smoothness. Panos talked about flow multiple times throughout the event and it's significance on Surface devices. Many people were hoping for an OS which would match or rival iOS in smooth transitions and a visually pretty UX design. Unfortunately what we were show was a laggy and choppy OS which looked more or less like what we already have on Windows.
There's still hope that, like with the WCOS demo shown on the Surface Hub 2X, this lack of polish is just because it's not near completion. While I would like to take this optimistic view I struggle to believe that this is something that could be 'added' in later in development. It feels like something it would have to start with. It's crucial that Microsoft make Windows 10X near perfect as some have been speculating that the Neo and Duo being launched side by side is a way to see which platform consumers would prefer.
My first issue with Windows 10X is the corners. It's becoming pretty evident that Microsoft will be going all in with rounded corners on the next iteration of Windows System apps and on Windows 10X. My hope for the new OS was that it would give Microsoft an opportunity to build in support for rounded corner displays too. Although many hate to admit it rounded corner displays are the future starting on smart, watches leaking onto phones and then tablet and now expected to make their way onto some laptops. The issue for current Windows with this, is the placement of the 'close' button which would be cut away with rounded corners.
The elephant in the room when it comes to talking about Windows 10X flaws has to be it's smoothness. Panos talked about flow multiple times throughout the event and it's significance on Surface devices. Many people were hoping for an OS which would match or rival iOS in smooth transitions and a visually pretty UX design. Unfortunately what we were show was a laggy and choppy OS which looked more or less like what we already have on Windows.
There's still hope that, like with the WCOS demo shown on the Surface Hub 2X, this lack of polish is just because it's not near completion. While I would like to take this optimistic view I struggle to believe that this is something that could be 'added' in later in development. It feels like something it would have to start with. It's crucial that Microsoft make Windows 10X near perfect as some have been speculating that the Neo and Duo being launched side by side is a way to see which platform consumers would prefer.
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