Windows 10X has already been installed on a MacBook and a Surface Go

Microsoft’s new dual-screen OS isn’t even out yet

Microsoft’s Windows 10X operating system isn’t even out yet, but it’s already been installed on a MacBook and a Surface Go. The software maker released its Windows 10X emulator earlier this week, and people have managed to take this OS image and extract it and tweak it on real hardware.

One developer has installed Windows 10X on a MacBook, and a brief video shows that it appears to run well. Microsoft is designing Windows 10X to run on dual-screen devices, but it simply treats the MacBook as a single display and splits it in half so apps run on either side. It even appears to support casting to external displays.

Another developer managed to get Windows 10X running on Microsoft’s Surface Go device, even though driver support is minimal. There’s a full guide for the steps to install Windows 10X on real hardware, but you’ll need to be familiar with PowerShell commands, hard drive partitioning, and a lot more if you want to experiment. Given how early Windows 10X is, we’d highly recommend not trying to install it on real hardware unless you really enjoy playing with beta software and can easily recover the original operating system on your device.

Microsoft is planning to release Windows 10X later this year on dual-screen devices. It will be preinstalled on tablets like the Surface Neo, and Microsoft has released this emulator primarily to allow developers to get their apps ready in time. We got a first look at Windows 10X earlier this week, and you can read our hands-on to see how Microsoft is modernizing Windows.