Early look at CShell reveals Microsoft’s mobile plans

Jun 6, 2017 05:03 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft is still committed to Windows phones, and as we’ve recently learned, the company is willing to give another try to mobile with an overhauled strategy that would include not only dramatic software updates but also at least a new device.

CShell, also known as Composable Shell, is one of the core components of the future Windows 10 push, and it looks like it’ll play an essential role on mobile devices as well.

Screenshots posted by WindowsCentral provide us with a quick glimpse into how Microsoft plans to bring Windows phones back to life with Cshell, with the main effort being aimed at bringing phones and PCs in sync with the same UI and features.

New Start experience

Windows 10 Mobile was already developed with this goal in mind, but there still are differences between phones and PCs. And Microsoft wants to address all of them with CShell, which will bring the same shell on all form factors for perfect consistency across devices.

Some of the screenshots reveal an overhauled Start screen on mobile devices that will feel and work just like the Start menu on Windows 10 PCs. This means there’ll be context menu options and even settings for live tiles, so you can easily resize them or unpin from Start. Microsoft will optimize these context menus for touch, and will fit the small screen of a phone just perfectly.

The firm will also bring the Action Center from PCs to phones with a similar interface that’s based on quick actions placed at the bottom and the rest of notifications at the top. You get the same experience as on PCs and this is the final goal with pretty much everything that relies on CShell.

One of the essential new features is landscape support, which was actually one of the most requested improvements in Windows 10 Mobile. By simply rotating the screen, Windows phones will switch to a landscape mode, with tiles and menus adapting on the go.

Continuum improvements

Continuum itself will also get overhauled, and one of the new features is also the most requested and already available on rival platforms, such as Samsung’s own Galaxy S8, which also supports a Continuum-like experience called DeX. Window mode will finally make it possible to run multiple apps side by side, and phones will also support Snap and Task View, just like on a PC. Apps will feature Fluent Design, again to mimic the PC experience.

Universal apps will be the essence of the new mobile push, and this is why Microsoft is giving up on Silverlight apps on phones. This means that a number of apps might stop working on Windows phones, so Microsoft again needs developers to step in and update their apps to prepare the new push.

On the other hand, Microsoft isn’t really in a rush to bring CShell to the market, though the report claims that 2018 is a realistic goal, at least for phones. The good news is that this new overhaul will first arrive on phones and only then on PCs, which means that Microsoft still sees mobile as a priority.

Windows 10 Mobile in landscape mode
Windows 10 Mobile in landscape mode

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Start screen on Windows phones with context menu
Windows 10 Mobile in landscape modeNew Action Center on Windows phones
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