For people saying dual screen is a gimmick, have you not wanted to replicate multi-screen setup on your laptop (while traveling or when not on your desktop)? Power users have always wanted more screen real estate!<p>I've been eyeing the Asus Zenbook Pro Duo[1] ever since they've been announced (currently using a Macbook Pro 2015). I usually carry around an Asus portable second screen for my laptop in my backpack and this dual screen laptop trend is exactly what I wanted! I'm definitely upgrading to a dual screen option next.<p>Although I have no hope from Apple, I'm still waiting to see what the next MBP iteration would be. All they need to do is stretch that stupid touchbar enough to be a respectable second screen.<p>[1] - <a href="https://www.asus.com/Laptops/ZenBook-Pro-Duo-UX581GV/" rel="nofollow">https://www.asus.com/Laptops/ZenBook-Pro-Duo-UX581GV/</a>
It reminds me how the first Surface Pro looked like.<p>It was incomplete and useless device so it didn't go well. However, Microsoft didn't give up. After three iterations Microsoft finally made Surface Pro 3, which was the first useful Windows tablet with a cleverly designed keyboard and a great 3:2 ratio screen. The surface line finally took off and third-parties began to make "surface-like" products since then.<p>Microsoft is not like Apple. They don't make perfect products at the beginning, but they eventually nailed it after some iterations (I know they still have software issues though.) So I will wait and see what Microsoft will make in the next generations.
I'm liking the direction laptop makers are taking by differentiating at hardware level especially with displays, Asus has multiple dual display laptops and now Microsoft's surface lineup. With WindowsX partnership, this is going to kick off a slew of multi-display computing devices.<p>But as a non-windows user, I'm wondering what these hardware specific Windows changes are going to do to the Linux ecosystem. I'm sure, display output to these multiple displays would likely work OOB; but the availability of an app ecosystem which can make use of these dual displays offering unique productivity advantages would be questionable.
The Duo is the Android phone.<p>I am one of these weirdos that has been waiting patiently for many years for Microsoft to release a new phone and would have been first in line to buy one, until I received this news.<p>There is just no way I am going to buy a Android that broadcast everything back to Google. Microsoft have completely missed the ball on this one. At least towards the Microsoft users that are not comfortable with sending everything towards Google.<p>Windows 10X on the other hand sounds like an amazing OS. I would have loved to see that on the phone (with android app support to get the app ecosystem going), instead we get a two screen device with a huge bezel in the middle so the screens cannot appear as 1 screen.<p>I am sorry Microsoft, but my money stays in my pocket.
I think this is the Microsoft release on it [1]. I refuse to accept Oath cookies.<p>[1] <a href="https://blogs.windows.com/devices/2019/10/02/surface-reveals-new-holiday-lineup-and-introduces-a-new-category-of-dual-screen-devices-built-for-mobile-productivity/" rel="nofollow">https://blogs.windows.com/devices/2019/10/02/surface-reveals...</a>
One thing I’m looking forward to in regular laptops is handling of change in monitor hardware state when docking and undocking. It can take a while for the system to figure things out, other times it’s a hard reset... all that said, it’s handled better than mosx which has a frustrating relationship with multiple external displays.
If you think there isn’t a market for a dual screen device, step into a med school or any professional school. Half of my classmates carry around two devices specifically to have a second screen for referencing videos, notes, articles, etc... personally I can’t wait to get the neo. I have a 15” surface book 2 and it’s served me well but I would love a second screen with the same versatility of my sb2.
Some HN users are denying, but the recent trends definitely shows that most users values screen real estate a lot. The only problem here is that screen size and device form factor has been physically coupled to each other so you cannot have a useful phone with 13 inches screen. While MS' solution is not the most elegant one, but now technological advances on flexible screen makes it possible to de-couple them.<p>I'm pretty sure that MS is looking forward to using this technology, but also wants to get into the market as soon as possible. It'll be interesting to see what kinds of new form factors MS will bring into the market in coming years; they have been pretty innovative in this area.
This just reminded me that SideShow was a thing in Vista times: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_SideShow" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_SideShow</a>
Meanwhile, I'm still dealing with random scaling bugs from connecting external monitors with lower pixel density to my high pixel density Surface Pro devices. Only thing that really "fixes" it is setting a custom scaling factor of 100% and reducing the Surface's resolution to make it still readable. (Then I end up with black bars along the edges, as the lower resolution options aren't the same 3:2 aspect ratio as the native resolution...)<p>This has been a many-years struggle and I wish Windows would get this right first. Never had the same kind of problems with macOS.
Microsoft is showing true commitment to their new OS for dual-screen devices, by only putting it on one of their new dual-screen devices.<p>I think it's really weird they didn't talk even slightly how 10 X will fit into the Windows family down the road. I guess it's a hardware event, but everything Microsoft has been held back by the software lately, so that's really what I want to hear about.
I would much prefer it if manufacturers created a multi-screen setup with screens next to each other. I can imagine some form of folding or attachment mechanism that converts a single screen laptop to dual or triple screen. Since going "laptop only" many years ago the thing I miss the most is the multi-monitor setup that I used to have and would love it if I was eventually able to recreate this with my laptop.<p>The idea of a second screen above the keyboard does not appeal to me. I have a Macbook Pro with a touch bar and in general I dislike it (even though I have written a custom dock for it, which allows me to reclaim some main screen real estate from the macOS Dock). I understand that this new MSFT screen is bigger and potentially more useful, but the problem of having to look down on the second screen above the keyboard would still be there.<p>(I am aware of macOS Sidecar.)
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmaioTs0NH8" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmaioTs0NH8</a> @ 1:10:00 mark for tablet. I did not see the keyboard coming ! Great job microsoft
I can’t help but think how prescient Micheal Okuda was when he designed the flat, touchscreen-only LCARS (Library Computer Access and Retrieval System) interfaces for <i>Star Trek: THe Next Generation</i> that first aired way back in 1987, rationalising that he was looking to create a visual style which implied a simplified, abstract system of controlling vastly complex processes in a user-friendly, high-level manner. 32 years on flat GUIs and touchscreen-everywhere interfaces are closing in on his vision. Truly remarkable.
Was there any specific mention of the device's thickness? The photos look like each side is about the same as a typical tablet, which would make this thing a pretty chonky boi when folded...
> So while a regular PC will boot up and immediately run all of the services necessary to run a Win32 application, for example, Windows 10X won’t load this subsystem until it’s needed. This, the company argues, allows it to be very efficient with the resources available on the machine and extend its battery life significantly.<p>Hopefully they won't decide it is never needed.
That looks quite inconvenient. I think it'd have been better if the screen could be unhinged, and only held together by a cable. That way, I and someone across the table could follow something on the same computer, but on a different screen. In fact, if I could attach as many screens as I wanted, that'd be pretty cool...
I'm very surprised that Intel gave away Lakefield to Microsoft just for that.<p>Few Intel insiders I knew were talking about Lakefield as almost like a "saviour" product for Intel waning consumer electronics marker appeal.
This gives me hope that the 10GUI concept[1] might finally become a reality<p>[1] - <a href="http://10gui.com/video/" rel="nofollow">http://10gui.com/video/</a>
I'd love to have a dual screen tablet like that. One of the reasons I like reading on an iPad is because you can tilt it horizontally and have two screens of paper.
The whole concept of OS integration across devices is a complete failure for Microsoft. Calling this new thing a "new OS" sounds like a failure to fulfill what the Windows brand used to mean: support across a large range of devices. Isn't Windows already supporting multiple display? Maybe not in the "tablet" sub-OS... which is clearly not up to the standard set by the "desktop" sub-OS.<p>Anyway, the only thing that keeps Windows relevant even today is its classic Win32 API applications. Everything else they tried to do has always been half-baked. I'm not optimist for the future of the platform.
I'd be excited if the small indy company behind Windows 10 could figure out how to stop putting all my windows on one monitor every time the machine sleeps.
Microsoft is using Android! Lauren Goode got a great quote from Satya on this topic:<p>> When I asked Satya Nadella whether Microsoft ever thought about reviving a true Windows mobile OS, he told me: "The operating system is no longer the most important layer for us...What is most important for us is the app model and the experience."<p><a href="https://twitter.com/LaurenGoode/status/1179421631506210822" rel="nofollow">https://twitter.com/LaurenGoode/status/1179421631506210822</a><p>Update: my apologies, this is for the <i>other</i> dual screen device announced today (lots of new products!). They are releasing an Android phone with a similar hinge setup.