You may soon be able to use Surface Dial on Surface Duo's displays

The DuoWOA team has released a new set of Windows drivers for the first and second-generation Surface Duo. The most notable change is preliminary support for the Surface Dial, Microsoft's long-forgotten display accessory. The changelogs also include fixes for a few issues and general stability improvements.

Here is what is new in Surface Duo Windows drivers version 2310.45:

• Preliminary WIP support for Surface Dial

   

• Addresses an issue where the phone may take longer to shutdown/reboot or show a bugcheck screen during shutdown/reboot

   

• Addresses an issue preventing Operating System upgrades from working for OS flights in the Windows Insider Canary Channel

   

• General system stability improvements to enhance the user's experience.

And here is the changelog for the Surface Duo 2 (still a Proof of Concept, so nothing extraordinary):

• Merges most generic changes from Surface Duo (1st Gen) to Surface Duo 2
• Resolves an issue where touch would not be functional in the most recent releases
• Updates some system drivers to their latest october versions
• General system stability improvements to enhance the user's experience.

You can download the new drivers from GitHub.

For those unfamiliar, Microsoft unveiled the Surface Dial in October 2016 alongside three compatible devices: the original Surface Studio, the Surface Book, and the fourth-generation Surface Pro (it received on-display support only in 2018). The idea was to give artists and other customers a new method to control tools and functions in compatible apps by rotating or pressing the dial placed directly on the display.

Microsoft seemingly gave up on the accessory since displays in the latest Surface devices no longer support the dial, and it never received a successor with new features or improvements. However, seven years after the announcement, the Surface Dial is still available on Amazon for $75.99, 25% off its original MSRP. Soon, thanks to the power of enthusiasm, you may be able to use this quirky display accessory with the Surface Duo, a device never made to work with such peripherals or run a desktop operating system.

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