New details have appeared online about Microsoft’s new desktop experience, Andromeda. Rumours first began to circulate a couple of months ago, but now there are more solid details about the development.
According to MSPowerUser, the project will bring several improvements to Windows 10 Mobile, including multi-window Continuum support, a full taskbar, and updates to the Action Center. In short, the project will bring mobile and desktop even closer together.
Microsoft first teased these features at its Ignite conference in 2016. It promised a commitment to Windows 10 mobile, Continuum and Action Center changes, a pinnable start menu, and resizable windows.
A New Composable Shell
However, the latest information suggests these improvements are part of a larger plan for a new Composable Shell. While Windows 10 keeps the same “OneCore” across all of its devices, several different ‘Shells’ run across the platform and dictate variances.
CShell will be the most adaptive yet, allowing the OS to adapt to the device it’s running on. This signals a unified experience much closer to Microsoft’s vision of “one platform”. Twitter personality WalkiningCat has found evidence of the Shell in the latest Windows 10 builds via debug symbols.
https://twitter.com/h0x0d/status/828463878010843136?
Interestingly, Microsoft isn’t the only company working on such an OS. In fact, it shares a temporary name with Google’s Andromeda, a hybrid OS that brings together Chrome and Android.
This makes it essential that the Redmond giant creates a good experience in order to shut down competition from its long-time rival. It also puts a soft time restriction in place. Though it would be unlikely to see a release with the upcoming Redstone 2, a roll out in Redstone 3 or later seems likely.
Of course, the project name, alongside other details, are subject to change with Microsoft’s desires. We can’t confirm any of these changes yet. If we’re lucky, more information will come at Build 2017 on May 10th.
