- This week on Ask Dan, you folks are asking
a lot of speculative questions,
so let's talk about Surface Studio 2,
Windows Core OS, and Project Andromeda.
Stay tuned.
(upbeat music)
"Are all future version of Windows 10
"going to be based on Windows Core OS?
"Do you expect it to be able to run
"on a smartwatch or Microsoft Band?"
Okay, so a two-parter here.
I do a separate video to talk about
Windows Core OS this week, and Polaris, and Andromeda,
how that all comes together.
The short answer to this question is yes,
Windows Core OS will eventually supplant
all Windows on all devices,
but I need to add some caveats here.
No one's device right now will be updated
to Windows Core OS, and there are no plans for that.
This is a new operating system.
It will only launch with new devices
and new experiences going forward,
and that's kinda what you want because
if you're running a Surface Book 2,
you don't wanna have a different operating system
completely loaded on it,
'cause that's not what you bought.
And Windows 10 Pro will be around
for a very long time.
Enterprise users want it, gamers want it,
pro users want it, and it will still exist for that reason.
Having said that, Windows Core OS
is the future of Windows for Microsoft.
It will allow it to go on a lot more devices,
but still maintain the core functionality
of what Windows is, and that's really kinda
what they've been dreaming about.
They'll be able to put this on all sorts of devices.
Now, getting specific regarding wearables
and Microsoft Band, I'm not hearing of
any internal plans right now for another
Microsoft Band type device.
My suspicion, of course, is they're always experimenting
and prototyping devices internally,
and I still expect maybe some kind of AI-driven wearable,
which I think would be really cool,
a Cortana on your wrist that has internet connectivity
and can always act on that.
Now, what's really cool about that is
Cortana is cloud-based,
so all you need is a device with internet connectivity
and a wearable, and you can kinda make that happen.
I think that's kind of a neat play,
but I haven't heard anything there.
But yeah, Windows Core OS I guess
could live on a device that's a wearable.
The biggest problem there, of course, is battery life.
That's something that still needs to be figured out,
but we are getting very close to that.
Whether or not Microsoft does it,
I'm not ready to commit to anything,
and I wouldn't be surprised if they don't.
"Is Microsoft's rumored foldable tablet PC, Andromeda,
"a one-off, or meant to create a new category
"for PC partners?"
All right, everybody this week apparently
is into asking future questions
about Microsoft's roadmap.
Let's talk about Project Andromeda again.
Yes, it is meant to kick off a new device category,
and that's super important.
What Microsoft is doing here
is not meant to be a one-off cool device and that's it.
In that sense, when people bring up Samsung,
who is also rumored to have a foldable device
coming to market, the question is, well,
who gets there first?
It's a little bit different.
Don't forget, Samsung is running a phone OS
that's trying to be a tablet PC,
but Microsoft is basically gonna be selling
a foldable PC that fits in your pocket.
These are very different device categories.
Moreover, Microsoft's program is to get other OEMs
to manufacture similar devices
at different price points and different feature sets.
So, if later this year, Microsoft actually announces
Project Andromeda as a new Surface device
and a lot of you freak out over the price tag,
I expect Dell, and HP, and Lenovo
to come out into the market with their own versions
at a lower price point.
If this sounds familiar, it is
the PC two-in-one category system
being recreated again for a new device category.
What that category is, well, it's digital journaling,
it's digital inking, it's this idea of a pen-driven device
that folds up and goes into your pocket.
I think there's a lot of opportunity here,
but I've mentioned before, this is a niche device.
This is not something everybody's gonna want,
at least not right now, but it's gonna have
an interesting impact on the market.
Clearly, other companies are thinking about this
like Samsung, like LG, and others.
So, it's not gonna be a one Microsoft thing,
and I think that's good.
There's gonna be a lot of options on the market,
but I think Microsoft may have an advantage here
if you want a PC in your pocket
and not a phone that's trying to act like a PC.
These are two different things.
It'll be interesting to see what happens,
but we'll see in 2019.
"When should we expect the Surface Studio 2?"
Okay, so Microsoft announced the Surface Studio
in late October 2016, and since then it's rolled out
two more international markets,
though I'm sure many of you will suggest that
it's not in your market and not as
widely available as we'd like.
This is a pretty niche device, after all,
but I think it is meeting sales goals,
at least set internally by Microsoft.
I don't expect this to be
in everybody's home, unfortunately.
So, what's the deal with Surface Studio 2?
Microsoft, of course, has not announced
a Surface Studio 2, so this is all internal stuff,
but I can say, at least internally,
we're hearing some sourcing that says
Surface Studio 2 is a go and it is
in development at this moment.
And that's about all we can say at this point.
We do have some other information,
but we don't really wanna talk about it publicly just yet,
just due to our sourcing.
Now, what about expectations here?
So, there's a couple of things.
As far as a timeframe, I would expect this
to be in the fall, so that would be coming out in two years.
That's right when we also saw Surface Book 2 come out.
It was a two year cycle for that device as well,
and I expect the same here for this device.
As to what it will feature,
my guess is it's gonna look mostly the same.
That display was pretty perfect.
No one complained about it,
and the hinge was also pretty perfect.
The big deal with the Surface Studio
were the internals.
They were pretty much not impressive.
It's running a laptop CPU and the GPU onboard
is not very powerful.
Fast forward to 2018 though, Microsoft has
a lot more options on the table,
including those new eighth generation Intel processors.
45 watt and higher would be really nice here.
And for GPUs, Microsoft also has new
Nvidia 1060, 1070, and 1080 selections,
including the Q-Max designs,
which should fit into this small device.
Now, whether or not Microsoft will do any of that
remains to be seen.
I'm also really hoping for an SSD only system
versus a hybrid drive, which I was not a fan of.
I think those ar reasonable expectations,
and we can expect Microsoft to do that
for Surface Studio 2, but we'll have to wait
and see what comes.
Other than that, though, I don't really
expect a major overhaul.
Now, I know the big question a lot of people have is
will they release a Surface Studio just display
without the PC part?
A lot of people just wanna use that display,
and I can totally understand that.
I have not heard anything about
such a system coming out,
and it would be a little weird,
because that base station actually weighs it down
and offsets the whole hinge mechanism.
Of course, they could just fill it with weights.
That would be a little bit weird,
but it could be done.
What I would like to see, and no one's asked this,
but I'm gonna tell you anyway,
is I would love to see that Surface Studio display,
but instead of a full PC in that base,
why not make it an awesome Surface dock
that could be used with any PC,
specifically by putting an awesome GPU in there,
a really good SSD, Thunderbolt 3,
and a bunch of ports on the back?
I think that would be a pretty killer device.
Then you could connect any PC up to it,
use it, get that GPU boost due to
an external GPU and Thunderbolt 3.
I think that'd be awesome.
Unfortunately, I haven't heard
such a system in place, at least not one that specific,
so stay tuned for more information, though.
Okay, so that does it for this week's episode.
Remember, if you have a question,
use #AskDanWindows on Twitter,
or go to our forms at WindowsCentral.com
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Don't forget, we also do a podcast at
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where Zach and I will talk about this stuff every week,
and you can ask us questions there as well.
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Thanks for watching, take care everybody.
Yeah, I've been meaning to plug
the (censored) podcast forever,
and I finally remembered.
Yeah.