Slated to be part of the Microsoft Surface family of devices, the Surface Neo was designed to be used in various "postures" for different use cases and multitasking scenarios involving its screens, and feature Windows 10X—a variant of Windows 10 designed exclusively for dual-screen devices.

The Surface Neo was expected to be launched in late-2020, alongside a range of other Windows 10X devices from third-party manufacturers.

It also contained architectural differences, including having Win32 software running within a sandbox environment for security reasons, and to control power consumption (with apps automatically paused after a period of inactivity).

[4][9] Vice President of Experiences and Devices Joe Belfiore stated that Windows 10X was "evolving the core of Windows 10", and that Microsoft was "working to take the best of the applications that people need and use most — things like Mail, Calendar, and PowerPoint — and bring them over to dual screens in a way that creates flexible and rich experiences that are unique to this OS and devices".

[6] Reports from testers indicated that the Neo felt cramped to use in a laptop posture due to its 9-inch displays, and that the prototype models were prone to overheating.