After years of potentially existing, then getting closer to reality, Microsoft at long last revealed the mythical Surface phone - even though it doesn"t want you to call it a phone -, the Surface Duo. Unlike its bigger sibling, the Neo, this device doesn"t run on Windows 10X. It doesn"t run on any kind of Windows at all in fact, and that has upset some folks.
A petition on Change.org has been started to urge the Redmond giant to reconsider its stance on the Duo and offer a Windows 10X-based variant, alongside the Android-powered current iteration. The introductory part of the petition states the following:
The newly announced Surface Duo running Android ONLY does not accomplish what many windows UWP developers and Microsoft fans want. We want a Surface Duo device that runs the new Windows 10x OS and that emulates Android apps.
Although the phrasing was a bit vague on stage, it does appear that the Duo is indeed powered by Android - albeit a customized variant -, as Panos Panay said in a recent interview. The exec stated that Google"s OS is what the company is going to use for "mobile devices", and that "anything above that, everything is Windows." It"s unclear where the company draws the line between mobile and not mobile devices, as one of the core ideas of the Surface line, since its reworking in 2012, has been mobility.
As far as the petition is concerned, one of the reasons outlined is Microsoft"s promise of one code base with its UWP initiative, which would allow an app to run on any device, including ones like the Duo. The reasoning is that running emulated Android apps on top of Windows would accomplish the same thing as the current strategy, while also not breaking the promise made with the debut of the Universal Windows Platform.
As of the writing of this article, the petition is sitting at a grand total of 40 signatures.
Thanks Ransom Peer for the tip!
Would you want a Windows-based Surface Duo? If yes, what"s the benefit in your opinion? Sound off in the comments section below!