Microsoft is finally letting the public play with Windows 10X via a new emulator that's designed to let developers test their apps on the upcoming OS. It's our first real look at Windows 10X, and first impressions, even this early on, is that it's looking good. Aesthetically, Windows 10X is everything I've ever wanted from a clean and consistent UI in Windows. It's seriously pretty, minimalistic, and fun to use.

Windows 10X is a complete rebuild of the Windows user experience, with new sounds, animations, and more to boot. That's one of the reasons why Windows 10X looks as good as it does. Gone are all the legacy components and features of old Windows such as Control Panel. It's all modern code from here.

You can check out some of those sounds and animations in our hands-on video, but if you prefer screenshots, we've got you covered above. Windows 10X also has a dark mode, which we've also included screenshots of at the end of the gallery. Keep in mind, the current build of Windows 10X is prerelease software, and as such, is not representative of the final products. Things may change between now and launch.

For those who want to try out the Windows 10X emulator themselves, make sure you head to the Microsoft Developer Documentation website to get started. Windows 10X will be launching later this year, and will be available first on the dual-screen Surface Neo from Microsoft.