Goodbye, Windows 10X. Microsoft has confirmed that a scaled-down version of Windows 10 will not be officially released this year as originally planned. This is because some of these design elements will be introduced into Windows 10 in the upcoming Sun Valley update.

"After a year of research and customer conversations, we realized that Windows 10X technology has the potential to help more customers in more ways than we originally imagined. Microsoft's John Cable said in a blog post.

Microsoft announced Windows 10X in October 2019, touting it as a custom version of Windows 10 designed specifically for dual-screen devices like the Surface Neo. However, after the pandemic, Microsoft pivoted its Windows 10X strategy to single-screen laptops.

A year later, Microsoft decided it made more sense to discontinue Windows 10X as a standalone OS.

"Instead of bringing a product called Windows 10X to market in 2021 as originally intended, we are leveraging the learnings from the journey so far and accelerating the integration of key underlying technologies from 10X into other parts of Windows and into internal products," Cable added.

Some of these elements are already in place, at least within the Windows Insider program. Things like new app container technology and enhanced voice input are currently being tested in preview builds of Windows 10.

This means that certain aspects of Windows 10X will be revealed in the Sun Valley update later this year; Sun Valley promises to be the biggest overhaul of Windows 10 since its launch, probably in October or November!

On the other hand, the Sun Valley update will be released in October.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has just released a relatively slim 21H1 update for Windows 10, which you can install right now. Or, as is often the case with Windows updates, you can wait a bit to see if anything breaks.