What the heck is Windows 10X?

If we consult years of insider whispers about Microsoft's alleged internal strategy for Windows, many from The Verge's own Tom Warren, there's a simple reason why you shouldn't care whether Windows 10X ships on just a few devices or thousands. That's because Windows 10X is likely just a modular shell that gives the core Windows operating system a new user interface to do the tricks you see in these videos. And it all comes back to the philosophical question of what "Windows" really is now. As Tom and fellow reporters have discovered, Microsoft has been building a new Windows Core OS (WCOS) that will serve as the new modular backbone of Windows. It can be paired with a different user interface for different types of displays by adapting what Microsoft's calling a Composable Shell, or CShell (say it out loud), to each new interface. I hope Microsoft will eventually give users the choice to switch between the various shells whenever they so desire. And if not - the community will take care of it.