Microsoft's ill-fated Surface Neo may never have seen the light of day, but fans are one step closer to making that experience a reality with a new port of Windows 10X to the Surface Duo. While there have been ongoing efforts to port Windows to the Surface Duo, this is the first time we see the unreleased Windows 10X make its way to the device, bringing us the closest we've ever been to Microsoft's original vision for the Surface Neo.

The current release is referred to as a V0, so some core functionality is broken. The current implementation only supports one screen, and it also breaks the phone functionality of the Surface Duo. However, the developer, Gustave Monce, says a future update will add support for both screens, featuring the same capabilities that the Surface Neo would have included. You can see the current implementation in action in the video shared below.

If you haven't heard of the Surface Neo, it was a dual-screen tablet Microsoft announced in late 2019, but never released. It was going to ship with Windows 10X, a software experience that was also never officially released to the public. Windows 10X was supposed to be an extra lightweight experience that modernized Windows by removing support for Win32 apps, among a few other changes. Some of the changes did end up making their way to Windows 11, including a redesigned Start menu, but for the most part, Windows 10X and the Surface Neo were closely tied together, and both suffered a similar fate.

The Surface Duo, however, was announced alongside the Neo, and it actually made it to market. This is an Android-powered phone, though Microsoft did bake in some software tweaks to make it feel a bit more like a Microsoft phone. Efforts to port Windows to the device aren't exactly new, but a lightweight experience like Windows 10X makes perfect sense for this kind of hardware. And since it's also a dual-screen phone, it basically makes this a miniature Surface Neo.

If you're fine with the limited functionality of this early release, you can follow the step-by-step instructions on the project's GitHub page. The process isn't really simple, but for diehard Windows fans, it may be worth it just for the chance to experience a Surface Neo-like experience. Keep in mind that the process will only work on the original Surface Duo, and not the Surfacer Duo 2.

Source: Windows Central