• Windows Phone Area
• On November 8, 2017

What is Andromeda?

We exclusively reported in February about a dual-screen mobile device codenamed Andromeda that would launch as early as 2018, running a new version of Windows based on Cshell components or modules. And while the mobile device has been widely covered since February, the details about Windows Core OS – the codename of the modular Windows – has been rather scarce. Recently, several websites, like Surface Phone Italia, have published more details about Windows Core OS and Andromeda, which we can now confirm as mostly accurate. Here is our interpretation in a nutshell:

Andromeda is only one of the CShell composers developed for Windows Core OS – the composer for a new device family – dual-screen devices. Microsoft is developing new devices to launch with each composer, but a device could include more than one composer. For example, the rumored Surface Journal (Phone) could include Phone and Andromeda composers, and even Polaris (the codename of the Desktop composer). Other composers are Aruba (Surface Hub) and Oasis (Mixed Reality).

Windows Core OS aims to make the kernel and the basic Windows libraries completely independent of the architecture (x86 or ARM), in contrast to the current situation when each Windows version has a different interface and libraries. Composable Shell (CShell) resolves the incompatibility problem and makes Windows 10 a flexible OS that could modify itself in real time, based on the composers that are UWP, and the device type.

Microsoft’s mobile device Andromeda is likely to launch in the second half of 2018, demonstrating the power of Windows Core OS running on unconventional devices like a foldable tablet that makes phone calls.