Windows 10X is, for many, an expected and strange operating system. This new system is not the successor of the current Windows 10, but it is another much smaller and lighter version designed, above all, for touch devices and two screens, such as the new Surface tablets. Microsoft has kept the development of this operating system very secret, only releasing information through leaks. However, as of now, this has changed. Windows 10X is available now for anyone who wants to try it out.
Windows 10X wants to keep the essence of Windows 10 but, in turn, be adapted to other types of equipment and devices, beyond the PC. Among its main features it is worth mentioning a completely renewed interface (with a search engine and a start menu), in addition to its two screens as workspaces and the focus so that everything that runs on this system is UWP , allowing Win32 applications to be run by emulation.
Windows 10X is not distributed in ISO format , so, until now, it was difficult to test it, neither on PCs nor in virtual machines. However, Microsoft has finally decided to start accelerating the development of this new version of the operating system. And what better way to do it than to use, once again, the users themselves to detect errors and know what aspects should be improved.
Microsoft Emulator: the basis for emulating devices
Microsoft Emulator is somewhat similar to VMware or VirtualBox, with the difference that while the previous ones emulate computers where you install operating systems, this emulator simulates other types of devices using their images as a base.
This emulator does not come with any device or operating system installed by default and, today, it does not allow us to create our own devices either. However, images can be freely downloaded both from the program itself and from the Microsoft Store .
Although Microsoft Emulator may be used in the future to test other types of systems and emulate other devices, right now its main operation is to emulate Windows 10X. To download this emulator we don’t need anything more than access the following link and download it from the Microsoft Store. We don’t have to be an Insider or anything like that.
And the latest version of the Windows 10X image can be found at the following link , also in the Microsoft Store.
When we have the emulator and the image downloaded, we can already test Windows 10X. Inside the emulator we can directly see the new Windows 10X image ready to start working. If we want, we can modify the settings of this virtual machine, although, to be honest, it is better not to.
We must have Hyper-V enabled on our PC . If we do not have it, when starting the Windows 10X emulator we will see an error message, and this will tell us how to do it.
How Windows 10X Works
When the emulator starts, we can see both screens and the operating system running. We must bear in mind that this is a very limited version of the operating system, with a few applications installed, and focused, above all, on touch devices.
This new version of the operating system brings two quite interesting news that, until now, we have not seen in the desktop version of Windows 10 (and that, probably, we will not see in a short time). For example, the first thing that strikes us is the new taskbar and, above all, the new start menu .
Also, the latest versions of Windows 10X feature a new file explorer . Still very limited, since it is a very green version, but it allows us to get an idea of what it will be like. If this new file explorer is successful within Windows 10X, it is even likely to hit Windows 10. And this would be great news. Although, for now, it is very green.
One of the things that has caught our attention is that the new Edge Chromium is available in Windows 10X. Given the limitations to prevent Win32 applications from running to promote UWPs, it seems that we are facing a UWP edition of Microsoft’s browser. In addition, it has the same management of permissions and options as this type of applications. Will we see Edge Chromium in the Microsoft Store soon? Can be.
Windows 10X is still in a very early phase of development, but it’s working. Now we just have to wait to see how Microsoft continues with the development of this edition and, most importantly, if some of the most interesting features of this system finally reach all other Windows 10 users, such as the start menu (very interesting) and the new UWP file explorer.
Microsoft will update Windows 10X images frequently, so if we want, we can closely follow its evolution by downloading new images as soon as they are available.
