Microsoft's Andromeda May Not Land This Year

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We've seen a ton of leaks about Microsoft's Andromeda device, a foldable computer running a new version of Windows 10. But Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet, who is superbly sourced at Microsoft, has sources telling her it likely won't show up in 2018, or possibly at all.

Credit: David Breyer/@D_Breyer on Twitter

Those sources say that Microsoft executives don't expect the updates to Windows 10 that make Andromeda work to release in Redstone 5 later this year, both because of "scheduling and quality." But additionally, the team can't see a reason why people need a pocketable, dual-screen PC.

Update 12:14 p.m. ET: Microsoft declined to comment.

Recent reports suggested that Microsoft was experimenting with ARM processors in prototypes and saw potential for Andromeda to be as impactful as the initial Surface line was to the laptop market. Internal emails suggested a 2018 release date with OEM partners producing similar devices soon after.

This raises the question as to whether or not work on Andromeda will continue to make Redstone 6, which would likely release in the spring of 2019, or if Microsoft will table the project entirely. Foley's sources suggest that this device, or a similar, dual-screen PC, would show up at some point. We already saw some hardware vendors show off their own dual-screen laptops, like Asus' Project Precog and Lenovo's new Yoga Book, at Computex in Taipei earlier this year.

This story originally appeared on Tom's Hardware.

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Andrew E. Freedman