Microsoft has set the Window 10 Anniversary Update for a 2016 summertime release, firing up speculations that release date of the next-generation Windows devices will happen simultaneously. The Surface Pro 5 and Surface Book 2, when unboxed soon, will include the Windows Ink feature upgrade.
Bundled with the next Microsoft OS update and codenamed Redstone, Windows Ink will further optimize the Surface hybrid devices for stylus use, according to WinBeta. The Ink Workspace, the report said, is "a hub of apps that all focus on different things that a stylus can do."
Windows Ink aims to make the Surface Pro 5 and Surface Book 2 smarter than ever, the report said, suggesting too that following the upcoming Windows 10 update the devices are even more equipped to offer better productivity features than Apple's MacBook lines and iPad Pro.
Apple has already issued the iPad Pro in two screen sizes - 12.9-inch and 9.7-inch - and is likely to release 13-inch and 15-inch laptop configurations soon that are believed to consolidate the MacBook Pro and Air.
Yet it appears that the tech giant is lately focusing on the iPad Pro with attempts to label the product as laptop replacement. The device comes with an optional Apple Pencil that Microsoft will match with the Windows Ink-enhanced Surface Pen.
Windows Ink on both the Surface Pro and Book will encourage creativity, better organization and higher productivity, the WinBeta report said.
The real advantage, however, of the Surface devices over its Apple rival lie on Windows 10. The operating system is designed not only for desktop setting but also for cross platform functions whereas iOS is mainly a software for smartphone use.
The OS X, on the other hand, is limited by its close ecosystem that in turns limits the tools that are made available to MacBook users.
And the rivalry between Apple and Microsoft is expected to further heat up with the expectation that following the Windows 10 Anniversary Update in June 2016, release dates of the Surface Pro 5 and Surface Book 2 will soon follow. But in a report, ZDNet did not rule out a slight delay with the likelihood that Microsoft might wait out for Intel Kaby Lake processor, the Windows 10 Redstone 2 update or even the completion of the rumored Surface Phone.