It is believed that the arrival of Windows 10X will have a great impact on the Windows landscape in 2021. Even though Windows was “housed in the Azure organization,” the technical team at Microsoft adhered to the Azure semester development schedule where the latest features were put in for January to June (H1) or June to December (H2). The codename for June to December 2020 bucket is ‘Iron’ and the upcoming January to June 2021 one is code named ‘Cobalt’.
Features that are a part of the aforementioned categories can be rolled out in any Windows 10 release and are not essentially secured to the release when they are built. As per reports, Microsoft might even plan to skip the release of the 21H1 Windows 10 feature update. Instead, they might bring in one feature update next year – Cobalt update in the Fall of 21H2.
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There were a few claims in the past stating Microsoft’s plans to release the first iteration of Windows 10X which was a simpler and more secure version of Windows 10 which the company originally wanted to debut on dual-screen devices. However, now the tech giant is planning to roll this out first on new single-screen PCs and 2-in-1s.
By the Windows Central report, we can expect the 21H2 Cobalt Windows 10 feature update to be a significant one. It is said to be much bigger than the usual updates we have witnessed in the past. The new Windows update is expected to come with a user interface (UI) refresh across different Windows components and apps.
Sun Valley is the code name for UI refresh and is said to include an overhaul to the Start Menu and Action Center. It is also rumoured to come with some in-box/bundled Microsoft apps, which will be “an optional change”.
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If we go by the claims made by ZDNet’s sources, the codename Sun Valley exists, and “Microsoft engineering has been describing the version of Windows 10 due next fall as ‘Windows 10++’, so it is possible that “Sun Valley is the equivalent of the ‘++’” and that “these ++/Sun Valley changes also are likely to work their way into Windows 10X for single-screen devices by Spring 2022”.
