During Microsoft 365 Developer Day, the details on app development for Windows 10X were finally made available. Delivered through the Microsoft Emulator and Windows 10X SDK, developers can now code and test their apps for Windows 10X without owning a dual-screen device.
Anyone, though, is free to try it out on their own. Here’s what you need to get it to run if you want to get a feel for Windows 10X ahead of release.
Before you get started with even thinking about trying out Windows 10X, you need to meet a few software requirements. You’ll need to be a Windows Insider, and have the latest Windows Insider build. You’ll also need to have Visual Studio 2019 Preview and the Windows 10 SDK Insider Preview installed. You also need to make sure you’re running 64-bit Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education. The other software requirements are listed below.
- In the BIOS, the following features must be supported and enabled: Hardware-assisted virtualization, Second Level Address Translation (SLAT), Hardware-based Data Execution Prevention (DEP)
- Ensure that the “Hyper-V” feature has been enabled on your system through Control Panel -> Programs -> Programs and Features -> Turn Windows Features on or off -> ensure that “Hyper-V” is selected for the Emulator installation to be successful.
There are also a few hardware requirements too. First off, your system needs to meet the specs below. You also need to have a device with an Intel processor, as AMD processors are not supported at this time. Nested virtualization is required to run Windows 10X in the emulator.
- Intel CPU with at least 4 cores you can dedicate to the emulator (or multiple CPUs with a total of 4 cores)
- 8 GB of RAM or more, 4 GB of RAM for the emulator
- 15 GB of free disk space for vhdx + diff disk, SSD recommended
- Dedicated video card recommended
- DirectX 11.0 or later
- WDDM 2.4 graphics driver or later
Once you meet these requirements, you can install the Windows 10X Emulator from the Microsoft Store. You also need to install the Emulator Image, as well. Additional directions on how to launch, run, and get started with the emulator are available here from Microsoft.
