Over the weekend, Microsoft's rumored 'Andromeda' device hit mainstream news when an internal email from Microsoft leaked describing its plans for a new "pocketable Surface device form factor." In the email, Microsoft describes its Andromeda device as a "new and disruptive" device category that "blurs the lines between mobile and stationary computing." This is the closest we're going to get to confirmation from Microsoft that Andromeda exists until its announced later this year.

The email also positions Andromeda as "bring[ing] together innovative new hardware and software experiences to create a truly personal and versatile computing experience." We first reported on Microsoft's Andromeda device back in October 2017, and the leaked email finally confirms a few things in our original article, including its pocketable nature and unique form-factor. Andromeda features two-screens in a chassis that can fold over, just like a journal. It also has pen support for inking and telephony capabilities for phone calls.

Andromeda is a big deal for more than just being a new device category however. It's the coming together of lots of projects that have been in the works internally at Microsoft for a long time, on both hardware and software sides. The software is very interesting, as it's Microsoft first port of call for its new Windows Core OS and CShell efforts, which attempt to bring Windows 10 into a more modern era by leaving behind legacy code and focusing on UWP as well as bringing new Windows experiences to device form factors that don't yet exist.

Windows Central understands that Andromeda runs a new version of Windows 10 built on Windows Core OS. It doesn't run full Windows 10, because that would be terrible. Microsoft refers to full Windows 10 as "Windows Classic OS" alongside its new "Windows Core OS." Windows Core OS is what Andromeda runs, with an Andromeda specific experience on top of it. The new Andromeda OS experience is yet to be seen by the public, but we'll hopefully have more to share on this front soon.