Microsoft originally announced the Surface Hub 2 in April of last year, and then, in September, it split the device into two models: the Surface Hub 2S and 2X. The former arrived this year, and it"s more like the original Surface Hub, with a fixed display. The Surface Hub 2X, slated for 2020, would be what Microsoft originally showed off for the Surface Hub 2, with a rotating display and a software experience that enabled seamless transitions between display modes, in addition to other features like tiling.
For a while, it was expected that the device would ship with a new specialized Windows experience based on Windows Core OS, but now, it seems that won"t be the case. According to Zac Bowden of Windows Central, Microsoft insiders have suggested that this variant of Windows Core OS, codenamed Aruba, has been canceled.
The Surface Hub 2X is still coming, though, and instead, it"s going to be running Windows 10X, which was announced at Microsoft"s October event. Windows 10X is, of course, another variant of Windows Core OS, which was previously known by the codename Santorini. While Microsoft is touting it as an OS for dual-screen devices like the Surface Neo, it"s also expected to make its way to traditional form factors, and now, collaborative displays like the Hub 2X.
It"s not clear if Microsoft will end up using a different official name for it, but it does appear to be the same shell experience as Windows 10X, and according to the report, the software features that were originally shown off will likely be there as well.
One question that Bowden raises is whether this change in development will affect the release schedule for the Surface Hub 2X, which is a possibility. Given that we were only given a vague 2020 timeframe, and that Windows 10X is expected to be finalized in June, it"s also possible that customers won"t really know anything has changed. We"ll need to wait to hear more from Microsoft to be sure.