14 DAY TRIAL // Rumor has it that Microsoft might be developing a premium Surface Phone that would come with support for Win32 apps, and while the company has never confirmed that such a project is in the works, it has dropped hints about it every once in a while.
One such sign that a Surface Phone might be planned is a mention of a new Windows 10 Mobile x86 version that has showed up in a MSDN document (via Petri) called “Audio Engine Core Test” and indicating supported platforms.
Windows 10 Mobile x86 could be a new version of Microsoft’s mobile operating system that would allow users to run Win32 apps on smartphones and that could be available exclusively on premium devices manufactured by Microsoft, such as the Surface Phone.
A Surface equivalent
Microsoft previously hinted that “a Surface equivalent” was needed for the Windows phone lineup, but the company has never mentioned that a new version of Windows 10 Mobile will be developed for such a device in order to support Win32 apps.
“With Surface, we had a bunch of early misfires, but that notion of a tablet that could replace your laptop, that notion of saying, ‘Hey, Apple wants to sell you an iPad and they want to sell you a Mac. We think there’s one device that exploits the seam between those two devices,’” Microsoft’s Chris Capossela said in December.
“We need some sort of spiritual equivalent on the phone side that doesn’t just feel like it’s a phone for people who love Windows. It’s got to be a phone where it’s like, ‘Wow, that’s a real shock or that’s a real breakthrough, and (for an Apple customer) that’s going to make me pause before I buy my 17th iPhone.’ And we need time to actually go build that.”
Certainly, such a feature would easily address the lack of apps that’s currently plaguing Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile, but there still are a few problems to deal with.
Using Win32 apps on such a small display would definitely be a challenge, but Microsoft most likely has a different plan in mind that involves Continuum. The Surface Phone could be a regular phone most of the time, but it could become a fully featured PC when plugged into the Display Dock adapter.
Right now, Continuum is all about universal apps, but with support for Win32 apps, a phone could indeed run Win32 apps and make it possible to work on the go, just like on a full PC.