With Microsoft preparation a couple of dual screen devices running on both Windows X and Android Microsoft has take the wraps off their draft Software Development Kit to develop for their new two-screen existence. As of today the android based SDK for the Surface Duo is available with the Windows X based SDK coming soon.

Why do we need an SDK? In order to have apps, websites and programs (basically anything) intelligently and consistently respond to the dual screen form factor it’s necessary to have a base underlying set of basic instructions. With Microsoft helping to lead the way with this hardware it makes sense that they are taking this step, but what about fragmentation?

For Windows X that won’t be an issue — they are they only provider of Windows or Windows X. However on Android we could end up in a world where we have a Microsoft, a Samsung and a Google implementation. While that may be constant within brands it won’t be across a platform.

Hopefully in time these standards are going to merge but I’m expecting a fragmented world of how dual screens devices work, at least for the first few years.

Source: Microsoft.