Microsoft has recently changed the display size limitation for both the Windows 10 Mobile and the Windows 10 Desktop OS varieties. This opens up possibilities for hypothetical models such as “Surface Mini” and “Surface Pad”.
Here are the details:
- Windows 10 Desktop OS – the previous smallest supported display size was 7.99-inch which has been bumped down to 7-inch.
- Windows 10 Mobile – the previous largest supported display size was 8-inch, now it can handle 9-inch displays.
The above changes were introduced rather quietly and only the developers paying attention to the screen size limitations would have found this out (check MSDN link here). Hence, no one really knows the exact date when the changes were introduced.
Windows 10 Pro was already handling 7-inch devices but that proved to be rather unpopular. That’s probably because this is a relatively low-end market and the price of the Windows 10 Pro OS was too high.
Here are my guesses on the future models:
- Surface Mini – featuring a 7-inch screen running Windows 10 Desktop, Intel platform, targeted to ultra mobile productivity users
- Surface Pad – featuring a 8-inch screen running Windows Mobile 10, ARM platform, with mobile data modem built-in for casual tablet users
Both will be capable of running UWP apps of course but running on the Intel CPUs, the Mini will be higher performance version of the two. This of course, will require more power to operate.
Me? I personally wouldn’t mind seeing either versions of the above, with no physically moving cooling fans and more optimized for battery life than performance. It would be a nice light productivity device to take everywhere “just-in-case”.
Kent Beck is an American software engineer and the creator of extreme programming, a software development methodology that eschews rigid formal specifications for a collaborative and iterative design process. Wikipedia
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