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In January, Terry Myerson said “it’s all Windows” but nonetheless, Windows 10 on the desktop will be launching this summer as previously announced, but launches for Windows Phone, for Xbox, and for HoloLens won’t be following the same schedule, according to Joe Belfiore today at a press event at Build 2015, as reported by Paul Thurrott.
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Belfiore spoke to a bussed in cadre of tech press at an event space a few blocks from the Moscone West convention center in San Francisco where Build is being held, before allowing the journalists to mingle with engineers from Xbox, Edge, Windows Shell including Continuum, and Cortana. Because Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8.1 were on different development schedules, said Belfiore, work done on the two once completely separate operating systems won’t be ready at the same time.
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While Belfiore refrained from offering a launch date for Windows 10 on desktop, laughing off what OEMs have said about an end of July date, he did say that the new OS is on track for a summer launch, and that work will continue on the OS well after it initially launches, due both to the componentization of Windows with Universal Apps, and the “Windows as a Service” model that Microsoft has adopted.
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As reported earlier, Windows Insiders will have the opportunity, once Windows 10 launches, to stay in the program and continue to get either fast or slow ring updates after the launch.
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At the event, Microsoft IE Edge engineer Jason Weber talked to journalists about the new engine, which will include a new extensions model, basically the same as models used by Chrome and Firefox based on standards compliant HTML and JavaScript, although packaged differently using Microsoft’s .appx model. So, a Chrome extension won’t run directly in Edge, Weber said, but work to get it to do so would be trivial, only a matter of repackaging the app and perhaps matching Edge’s design and iconography.
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Microsoft also talked a bit more about Continuum, but refused to confirm or deny any hardware requirements phones might need to run the new abilities to use a phone with a second screen and a keyboard and mouse. At the Day 1 keynote, Belfiore mentioned in passing that he didn’t have the hardware necessary to run a live demo of Continuum on the phone, instead showing off a simulation. Still, with the non-confirmation, speculation that it will take new hardware to run Continuum will continue.
\n\nFurther reading: Build 2015, Continuum, Microsoft, Microsoft Edge, Windows 10