Windows 10 update preview suggests Microsoft could be working on another mobile device

[Polycount]

Microsoft could be planning to bring a lightweight version of Windows to devices with smaller storage capacities, according to Engadget.

A recent Redstone 5 (an upcoming version of Windows 10) preview build reveals a version of Windows 10 -- dubbed "Windows 10 Lean" -- that is under 2GB in size. This would represent a tremendous size decrease compared to the normal 64-bit version of Windows 10 which comes in at around 20GB total.

If you're wondering what Microsoft had to cut out to achieve this drastic size reduction, Windows 10's registry editor, Internet Explorer, wallpapers and even drivers for CD and DVD drives all appear to be missing in Lean.

Given that most devices running Windows 10 likely have more than enough space to handle a full version of the OS, Microsoft's focus on this pared-back version of Windows 10 might seem a bit strange.

However, Ars Technica may have found an answer to the puzzle. According to the outlet, Redstone 5's preview build appears to contain a number of "telephony" APIs including support for Bluetooth headsets, phone number dialing, contacts and even a speakerphone toggle.

These APIs, combined with the discovery of Windows 10 Lean, suggest Microsoft may be working on yet another mobile device. If this is the case, it would be particularly interesting given the lack of success the company had with the Windows Phone.

That said, it should be noted that this information comes from a relatively buggy, preliminary preview build of Windows 10. As such, everything contained within it is subject to change down the line.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/74319-windows-10-update-preview-suggests-microsoft-could-working.html

 

[bas416]

"Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

Btw I think I heard it will be 2GB smaller in size not 2GB in total.

 

[MoeJoe]

M$ mobile is utter fail. Lumia phones were huge disappointments. You simply can't have a phone operate like a computer when it comes to the OS and app update process. I relegated my Lumia to a portable, music only device and it's still a Royal PITA. And look around, who do see sporting a Microsoft Mobile device.

 

[JaredTheDragon]

WinPhone was an amazing platform. Microsoft simply dropped the ball in all marketing areas, after the initial Lumia 92x/10xx lines (they had ONE commercial), and never made them available for Verizon after Win10 emerged. It's a superior platform in all ways, to Android or iOS, and they had superior hardware at the time as well.

 

[vhfan]

Microsoft needs to make a "Lean" version of Win 10 for all the people that hate it the way it currently is , it's packed with so much complete garbage .

After trying it for 6 weeks a few months after it came out I grew to hate it more & more . I tried it again last month to see if it was as bad as it used to be and it's much worse , it has more crap than ever before .

It's an atrocity and thats without even talking about all it's spying which happens to be much much worse than people think . I went on Wilders security forum to get the truth about the spying , my God man if people really knew what MS was really doing .

 

[bas416]

WinPhone was an amazing platform. Microsoft simply dropped the ball in all marketing areas, after the initial Lumia 92x/10xx lines (they had ONE commercial), and never made them available for Verizon after Win10 emerged. It's a superior platform in all ways, to Android or iOS, and they had superior hardware at the time as well.

I feel some light sarcasm here

 

[BSim500]

"Microsoft could be planning to bring a lightweight version of Windows to devices with smaller storage capacities"

Rumor is, they're planning to call it "Windows XP".

If you're wondering what Microsoft had to cut out to achieve this drastic size reduction, Windows 10's registry editor, Internet Explorer, wallpapers and even drivers for CD and DVD drives all appear to be missing in Lean.

So it'll still come loaded with Windows Crapstore, Cortana, etc, bloatware, but don't worry - they managed to save you 300 kilobyte by deleting the highly important regedit.exe...

Microsoft needs to make a "Lean" version of Win 10 for all the people that hate it the way it currently is , it's packed with so much complete garbage.

Windows Enterprise LTSB is the closest thing to a genuine "lean W10" (lowest level of telemetry, no Cortana, no Windows Store, no advert tiles, security-only monthly updates (no forced biannual "feature" updates), full Group Policy control, etc). It's probably the only version that's actually an "upgrade" to Windows 7 Pro / Ultimate for a desktop PC if you don't want the trashy mobilised gimmicks. Of course the only way for the average consumer to get it is to steal it via certain "KMS utilities" thus promptly re-incentivising piracy again, but then MS have never been particularly good at joined-up thinking...

 

[Kibaruk]

This sounds related to the story about the phones that you can put in a dock and use as a full fledged computer, while actually working as a phone.

@BSim500 cool story bro. You lost me at saving 300kb for an exe...

 

[woofer]

M$ mobile is utter fail. Lumia phones were huge disappointments. You simply can't have a phone operate like a computer when it comes to the OS and app update process. I relegated my Lumia to a portable, music only device and it's still a Royal PITA. And look around, who do see sporting a Microsoft Mobile device.

I just looked across the room at my wife happily swiping away on her Lumia 640 running WP 8.1. I have offered to switch her to an Android phone, but she just (firmly) tells me "thanks, but no thanks". It was her first smartphone a few years ago after 10 years or so on feature phones. We made that decision then to see how that "conversion" would work after she thought about the hassles she had then dabbling with Android tablets and my phones (at the Android 4.x versions level).

After I saw how that worked, as we learned together, I was so impressed, I made the switch with an $80 640 instead of 100's more for a new Android when we switched from Verizon to AT&T (after I no longer needed certain Android apps for the job I retired from), and I came to enjoy the elegant simplification of phone usage, albeit the gaps in apps were annoying at times, but I usually found web sites that the WP IE could use to somewhat substitute for specialized apps (sometimes actually better with more choices/features that web sites can offer over more limited/static apps).

I only switched back a bit over a year ago as some apps lured me back, along with the WP 10 "upgrade" that was decidedly a lot rougher around more edges than 8.1, and more intrusive/annoying with telemetry and forced updates. WP 8.1 was losing what few worthwhile apps I did use (or they went into maintenance mode with updates not ported over from the Android versions).

So now I am hanging on with Android 7+ on mid-range phones until I see if the open source/Linux-based Librem 5 from Purism will give me a way out from under Google's and Microsoft's dominance early next year (search for Librem 5)

As for my wife, she is no techie, and hates UI changes in the extreme. As long as she can use that old 640 (with my old one for backup) to call, text, keep her calendar, take and view photos, keep notes/lists on OneNote, and browse/search the web with IE, I will let that sleeping dragon lie ;-}

 

[woofer]

This sounds related to the story about the phones that you can put in a dock and use as a full fledged computer, while actually working as a phone.

@BSim500 cool story bro. You lost me at saving 300kb for an exe...

Are you referring to the Contiuum feature of Windows 10 Phone? It is "full-fledged", sort of, kind of, with the basic Windows Office apps, and not much more. For those that can live in that zone, and want it on the go, it sort of, kind of works...

 

[Kibaruk]

Are you referring to the Contiuum feature of Windows 10 Phone? It is "full-fledged", sort of, kind of, with the basic Windows Office apps, and not much more. For those that can live in that zone, and want it on the go, it sort of, kind of works...

No I'm referring to a phone actually running Windows that you can put in a dock, the idea was thrown around a couple times. With the tests of running Windows on ARM, now this, it all leads me to think that they are slimming down Windows to have actual Windows phones.

 

[woofer]

It seems the current PC Windows 10 has a number of phone-related apps:
Messaging ("...quick, reliable SMS,MMS and RCS messaging from your phone" [with exceptions];
MS Pay:
MS Phone:
Mobile Plans ("SIM card needed" in PC's):
MS Phone Companion;
the Office apps in "Mobile" mode (for screens under 10" supposedly, but I do have a NuVision 8-inch tablet with Win 10 that does not seem to be recognized for that qualifier, and Windows keeps reminding me that I have only read-only access to existing files created with those apps, where my 8.9-inch 2-in-1 NuVision (physical keyboard!) is allowed to create/modiy those same files on OneDrive with the same mobile versions of Word and Excel - some flaw in the qualifying logic?).

Many of these apps' Store descriptions state something along the lines of "Available on Mobile" (Android, iOS?), but a natural for the ARM-based 2-in-1's with LTE coming out now with the indications they are to be more phone-like. These seem to be mostly Android and iOS versions of Office/music/phone stuff that started out on Windows Phone, but why not get "back to their roots" with quasi PC-like phones in a "super phablet" category? It may be just a matter of terminology and perceptions that MS is always trying to manipulate to their profit (literally).

 

[woofer]

No I'm referring to a phone actually running Windows that you can put in a dock, the idea was thrown around a couple times. With the tests of running Windows on ARM, now this, it all leads me to think that they are slimming down Windows to have actual Windows phones.

Well I have what is called a Continuum Dock (by MS), that does just that with my Lumia 950, although that is not quite a physical dock, using cables to connect the phone and monitor and keyboard to the hockey puck-like "dock" to run those Office apps and Edge browser in a desktop mode.

Compare that form to my Motorola LapDock for their Android Bionic and Atrix phones from about 7-8 years ago, which is more like a notebook PC with screen and keyboard/touchpad that nestles the phone on a ledge on the back with USB and HDMI connections (similar to the HP X3 Windows 10 Phone Continuum docking).

Then there is my Android Asus PadFone X that has a tablet dock with a slot that the phone slides into, and connects at the bottom to look like a somewhat fat tablet. Both of those Android dock arrangements actually change the UI from a phone format to a more desktop-like mode just as Continuum does for Windows 10 Phone.

Semantics?

 

[Kibaruk]

Well I have what is called a Continuum Dock (by MS), that does just that with my Lumia 950, although that is not quite a physical dock, using cables to connect the phone and monitor and keyboard to the hockey puck-like "dock" to run those Office apps and Edge browser in a desktop mode.

Yes and no, because it's a "Windows Phone". What I think they are aiming for is a "Phone running Windows". So it would be further than just semantics.

Imagine instead of carrying your laptop, it's your phone.

 

[JaredTheDragon]

M$ mobile is utter fail. Lumia phones were huge disappointments. You simply can't have a phone operate like a computer when it comes to the OS and app update process. I relegated my Lumia to a portable, music only device and it's still a Royal PITA. And look around, who do see sporting a Microsoft Mobile device.

You simply can have it, and we already do. My Lumia 925 and 1020 work just fine, and have majestic cameras even now. It's precisely because the Lumia line hit so hard back in the day that the modern Android and iPhones even have decent cameras at all. The Lumias blew them all out of the water, and they're still rock-solid and fast for photography.

But use it how you like. I still have a Blackberry Storm that I use for music in the car, for cryin' out loud. If the device is useful, use it.

 

[woofer]

Yes and no, because it's a "Windows Phone". What I think they are aiming for is a "Phone running Windows". So it would be further than just semantics.

Imagine instead of carrying your laptop, it's your phone.

That would be rather like when I did carry a phone running "Windows" up until about 7-8 years ago: Windows CE/Windows Mobile 5/6.1/6.5 on chunky HTC's on Verizon, XV-6700, XV-6800, XV-6900 (the last being absolutely the most beautiful phone, physically, I have ever seen or held in the last 20 years), plus the HTC Imagio (that, and XV-6900 lacking physical keyboards - loved using a stylus with their excellent handwriting recognition).

Everyone in the tech publications made fun of them for trying to look like desktop Windows (95/8/XP-ish) on such small screens, but once I got used to how it worked (best with a stylus, but not absolutely necessary), it was fine for me for calls, calendar, email, texts, Pocket Word (for note taking), Google Maps, music, but I did hate the browser, even when WM 6.x tried to substitute Opera - just too weak/slow for the web, and that was the real deal breaker for me as Android started cranking up with 2.2.

I also had fun with the HPC (Handheld PC) form factor versions of CE on the HP Jornada 720, and its big brother, NEC MobilePro 780 (I could take notes in classes touch typing with Pocket Word on its nearly full-sized keyboard with stylus at the ready for quick app changes - instant on/off was awesome, too). Now I have a Sony Vaio "P" model about the same length/width as the MoPro, but about half the thickness and 100 times the power, but the keyboard is not nearly as usable (although the Trackpoint is a great alternative to a touchpad, if not touch screen).

Anyway, I am holding out hope for the Librem 5 to let me carry Linux on my phone (did play around back in the day with NetBSD on the MoPro, and an ARM Linux on the Jornada as cool experiments, but not so practical ;-} ).

 

[Kibaruk]

@woofer: No... it's not a phone running "windows"... it will be a phone running windows, and if everything is pointing in the right direction they want to put a small form factor windows you can carry with you everywhere.

 

[DelJo63]

I feel some light sarcasm here

It certainly SHOULD be, but ...