- On this episode of Ask Dan,
we're gonna talk a lot about Windows 10 on ARM.
Specifically, should we expect a SnapDragon 845
at Computex next week with Windows 10?
What about Surface Hub 2 notes, animated live wallpapers,
is that really a thing?
All that and more, stay tuned.
(upbeat music)
Will we see Snapdragon 845 based
Windows devices at Computex?
So if you're not aware,
Computex happens the first week of June in Taipei.
We'll be on the ground covering it.
It's one of the largest PC events of the year,
so we expect a lot of different OEMs to announce
new product there.
So will we see a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 PC,
or anything running Windows 10 with that chipset?
No, we don't expect to see that.
I expect a 0% chance of that actually happening, so yeah.
Is Microsoft committed to Windows on ARM for the long haul?
So next week, in Computex, we're referencing that again,
I expect some major news with Qualcomm and Microsoft.
Now I know what you're saying,
"Did you just contradict yourself, and say
there's no Snapdragon 835?"
And I stick to that.
But yes, we expect some major news next week.
Qualcomm and Microsoft are very much committed
to Windows 10 on ARM.
And I've been saying this for a long time,
this is not going to be a short-term project.
This is a long term thing that they're doing,
and we're going to see a lot of evolution
of these devices and components coming out
for the next few years.
We're going to see different form factors,
we're going to see all sorts of different companies
getting involved with this.
And that is all 100% still accurate and true.
So just pay attention to this site,
and channel, over the next week or two,
and you'll get more information about it.
The Surface Hub 2 showed a live, animated lock screen.
Does this mean Windows 10 will now
support live wallpapers like Android?
So a few weeks back, Microsoft teased the world with its
Surface Hub 2 video.
And in that video we got to see the Surface Hub hardware
along with what the OS is going to look like,
which is technically not finished yet.
That OS is going to be Windows Core OS,
a variant of Windows 10.
Now, Microsoft won't sell it like that.
They're just going to call it Windows 10
built for Surface Hub, but yeah, you see in that video,
if you look very closely, animated live wallpaper.
Was that just a camera trick, or an artistic decision?
No, we actually do expect animated live wallpapers
with Windows 10 Core OS.
Now we don't know if it's going to come
to Windows 10 proper, that is your current desktop.
I'm not sure about that.
But yes, live wallpapers will be a part of Surface Hub 2,
and we do expect it too, with Andromeda,
the handheld foldable device that's expected this fall.
As a Windows desktop user who is very happy
with his always on LTE-equipped 12.9" iPad Pro,
sell me on the HP Envy x2.
All right, so the short answer to this is,
go watch my video review of that device.
Or read my written review of that device.
I still have it, I'm still using it every day.
In fact, I haven't charged this device since yesterday,
even though I took many conference calls with it,
been using it at night on the couch,
and I still have around 68% battery.
So I'm a huge fan of this device.
Having said that, I'm not necessarily telling everybody,
"Go buy it right now."
First of all, $1,000 is not cheap.
So this isn't really a disposable device.
But if you can afford it,
and you think you can make use of it, go get it.
It's a fun to device to use.
Now, part of that decision
is going to be based on what apps you use.
Sure, you can install Win-32 Apps
by locking this to Windows 10 Pro,
but the best performance will be
if you stick to Windows Store Apps.
And even there, once in a while
you'll get something like Slack.
And if you don't know, Slack is built on Electron,
and as everybody kind of knows, Electron is kind of garbage.
I probably will get heat for that.
But Slack doesn't run as well as you would expect it to,
but other UWP Apps are fine.
If, however, you can wait a while,
I would say try to hold out for the holiday season, 2018.
We're going to see a lot more devices on the market there
that will have some better performance,
and some more improvements.
So stick with Windows 10 and ARM,
but you may want to hold off for a while
Unless you have a lot of money and you can buy this now,
and don't mind getting a new device in say,
six to nine months.
If the Surface Hub 2 is indeed showcasing CShell,
can we expect such a responsive and adaptive UI
in Andromeda?
Related to the question about live animated wallpaper,
what we saw in that video was not a real OS, right?
It's a representation of what CShell
and Windows 10 is going to look like later in 2018,
when it comes out.
So should we expect, though, for that to happen in say,
Andromeda 2?
And yes, that's kind of the point of Windows Core OS,
and CShell in particular, and the Andromeda UI,
which is what we expect with that handheld foldable device.
This is going to be something that's light and responsive.
You're getting some of Windows 10, not all of it,
but some of the old legacy stuff that I've mentioned before,
like the Fax App that we don't need anymore.
A lot of stuff is going to be jettisoned,
and it's going to be more of a UWP based operating system.
But the goal of this is to have a UI
that is much more adaptive and reflexive.
In fact, I've seen some of the stuff for Andromeda.
And it looks a little bit like Windows 10 mobile
in some regards, but it has its own UI in others.
For instance, the journal app,
we expect to be one of the four front apps
that you use on this device.
In fact, I think when you turn it on,
that's what you'll see first, is Journal.
So you have to think of this as sort of a different device.
It won't be Windows 10 mobile in name.
And I know a lot of people keep thinking,
this is like Surface phone, but it's not going to really
look like Windows 10 mobile when you turn it on.
At least, not what we're expecting.
Still, you'll see a lot of familiar aspects with Windows 10.
And yes, the OS should be very fast and responsive.
But until we actually see that in real hardware,
we have to reserve judgment.
Okay so that does it for this episode,
now we'll be on hiatus for a week as we cover Computex,
but that's okay, you can still use #AskDanWindows
on Twitter, to ask me a question there,
or send me an email on askdan@windowscentral.com,
and I'll try to get around to it.
If you like this video, give us a thumbs-up,
and don't forget to subscribe.
Thanks for watching, take care, everybody.