Two-pane view code discovered in latest SDK
A two-pane view in Windows 10 SDK build 17692 suggests that Microsoft already prepared the foundation for apps to run on Surface Andromeda and support the dual-screen design. As @zhuowencui posted on Twitter (via @h0x0d), such capabilities allow “two views (in the same app) to run side by side, or stacked when in portrait.”
This means apps can adapt their interface depending on the orientation of the screens on Andromeda, thus offering support for several of the form factors that a dual-display device like Microsoft’s would power.
Judging from patents and information leaked via people with knowledge of the matter, Andromeda was supposed to be used as a laptop, as tablet, or as digital notebook for students and teachers, making it easier to take notes just like on a piece of paper. This last form factor would technically be a modern interpretation of the original Courier concept that Microsoft never launched.
Running two apps side-by-side isn’t a new idea, and Microsoft itself offered such features on Windows 8. The difference, however, is that on Andromeda the two apps would run one next to the other on different screens, while in Windows 8 the operating system split the same display in two different parts based on user settings.
In the meantime, Andromeda might get the ax and never see daylight, as the software powering the device is reportedly not ready. While originally planned for the fall of 2018 when Windows 10 Redstone 5 goes live, it’s now believed that Redstone 6 due in spring 2019 could be a possible target, though there’s also a chance that Microsoft cancels the project completely in the coming months.
