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By Lee Mathews
In just a few more months, Windows 10 will arrive. It’s coming to desktop PC's, laptops, tablets, and phones — and it’ll even let some phones turn into desktop PC's. Pair a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard with your Windows 10 phone, hook a monitor up with an HDMI cable, and you can launch your apps on the big screen.
The desktop transformation is part of Windows 10’s Continuum feature, which also allows devices like the Surface Pro to switch between laptop and tablet mode on the fly. Sounds pretty awesome, right? It is, but there are a couple important caveats. First, Continuum won’t be supported on any current Windows phones, so don’t rush out an buy one right now if the promise of using it has you all hot and bothered. You’ll have to be patient: when next-gen Windows phones start shipping later this year with Windows 10, they’ll include the necessary hardware to drive a second display. Second, it only works with Universal apps. By the time Windows 10 arrives, there should be loads of quality Universal apps in the Windows Store.
Microsoft’s certainly doing everything they can to convince developers to get with the program. The promise of coding an app once and having it run on Windows PC's, tablets, phones, and even the Xbox One is already a pretty decent incentive. Showing off Continuum ought to help build excitement, too.
Geeks have been waiting for someone to deliver an experience like this on a smartphone. One of the most exciting features that Canonical touted for the Ubuntu Edge was its ability to double as a desktop computer. While Ubuntu phones have gone on sale, they don’t offer that functionality out-of-the-box just yet. Looks like Microsoft just might beat them to the punch.
In just a few more months, Windows 10 will arrive. It’s coming to desktop PC's, laptops, tablets, and phones — and it’ll even let some phones turn into desktop PC's. Pair a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard with your Windows 10 phone, hook a monitor up with an HDMI cable, and you can launch your apps on the big screen.
The desktop transformation is part of Windows 10’s Continuum feature, which also allows devices like the Surface Pro to switch between laptop and tablet mode on the fly. Sounds pretty awesome, right? It is, but there are a couple important caveats. First, Continuum won’t be supported on any current Windows phones, so don’t rush out an buy one right now if the promise of using it has you all hot and bothered. You’ll have to be patient: when next-gen Windows phones start shipping later this year with Windows 10, they’ll include the necessary hardware to drive a second display. Second, it only works with Universal apps. By the time Windows 10 arrives, there should be loads of quality Universal apps in the Windows Store.
Microsoft’s certainly doing everything they can to convince developers to get with the program. The promise of coding an app once and having it run on Windows PC's, tablets, phones, and even the Xbox One is already a pretty decent incentive. Showing off Continuum ought to help build excitement, too.
Geeks have been waiting for someone to deliver an experience like this on a smartphone. One of the most exciting features that Canonical touted for the Ubuntu Edge was its ability to double as a desktop computer. While Ubuntu phones have gone on sale, they don’t offer that functionality out-of-the-box just yet. Looks like Microsoft just might beat them to the punch.