I can’t wait for Qualcomm to have competition in the Windows on Arm space

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Credit: Rita El Khoury / Android Authority


Five years ago, if you wanted a Windows on Arm laptop, you faced two huge problems. The first was that software support for Windows on Arm was dismal, with relatively few companies porting their x86/x64 programs to the Arm architecture. Meanwhile, x64 emulation was non-existent, and even x86 emulation felt questionable at times, making the transition from the x64 version of Windows to the Arm version tricky for most people. The second major problem was that you had too few hardware choices. At the tail end of 2019, you had just two new Windows on Arm laptops from which to choose. Ouch.

Today, things are much different. Windows on Arm is thriving, thanks in no small part to Apple forging the way by going all-in on Arm in 2020 with the launch of the first M-series chip. Now, more companies than ever are porting their software to Arm. Additionally, Microsoft has done a fantastic job getting Prism — its x86/x64 emulation layer — to perform wonders for seamless operation within Windows. Even more impressive, we saw over 50 Windows on Arm laptops launch this year alone. Fifty! That’s a far cry from two.




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