Microsoft’s project “Windows Core OS” (previously known as “Andromeda OS”) is set to make Windows 10 an entirely modular system, which will allow to install the OS on any device with only the features supported by the hardware.
According to Windows Central, instead of having multiple versions of Windows 10 based on type of devices (e.g., desktop, mobile, and IoT), the vision with Windows Core OS is to have one version of the OS that can be used on any type of hardware.
Using this approach, the OS will install the proper architecture, platform, and only the components supported on the device making the OS fully customizable without having to add unnecessary features that will just slow down the system and use unnecessary space. However, the different editions of Windows 10, such as Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Pro, and Windows 10 Enterprise will continue to be available with all their features. This will not change.
The main idea is to make Windows 10 truly universal and more adaptable to the environment it’ll run on — that being on a wearable or IoT device, tablet, laptop, desktop, and other types of devices.
Alongside Microsoft’s CShell, the new highly adaptable user interface, Windows Core OS is setting the stage to get Windows ready for the future where new devices and platforms are introduced in the regular basis.
The company is expected to focus the first version of Windows Core (Andromeda) on mobile devices, which could include wearables, phones, and tablets. While there is not a release date set on stone, the report suggests that we could be seeing Microsoft pushing the first version of the new modular OS sometime in 2018.
Just don’t expect “Windows Core OS” to be the final marketing name for the new version of Windows 10. This is only an internal name for the project.
Update September 29, 2017: It appears that Microsoft has now changed the internal name from “Andromeda OS” to “Windows Core OS”. The article has been updated to reflect the change.
