Microsoft Partners with Qualcomm to Bring Windows 10 on ARM

Microsoft Partners with Qualcomm to Bring Windows 10 on ARM. Four years back Microsoft wanted to change its old desktop Apps in favor of new touch-based apps for tablets with ARM processors. Windows on ARM project was named as windows RT. It was a very bold yet confusing attempt to force people into a new world of touch apps. Microsoft made a fatal mistake of providing something that looked like Windows but didn’t function like Windows.

Microsoft Partners with Qualcomm to Bring Windows 10 on ARM

Windows RT couldn’t run old loved desktop apps. It had desktop mode and most of the regular Windows utilities that have existed for more than 25 years. Microsoft is correcting that mistake now, and taking step further at supporting ARM processors with Windows.

Starting next year, Windows 10 will be able to emulate traditional desktop apps, allowing device creators to build laptops, tablets, and phones that support the millions of existing applications in the Windows world.

Microsoft has announced a new partnership with Qualcomm, where Windows 10 will be arriving on ARM-processors. Microsoft will support the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processors due to which laptops will be the first devices we’ll see in the market next year.

Terry Myerson, EVP of the Windows and Devices Group at Microsoft said :

Bringing Windows 10 to life with a range of thin, light, power-efficient and always-connected devices, powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon platform, is the next step in delivering the innovations our customers love – touch, pen, Windows Hello, and more – anytime, anywhere

Microsoft is enabling Windows 10 to support ARM chips directly by building an emulator into the operating system. Devices will be able to run x86 win32 applications like Chrome or Photoshop, but Microsoft won’t be emulating x64 variants of these apps. That’s not a great issue as not many apps have been compiled for x64 instructions. It means that we will be able to buy a lightweight laptop with good battery life and support for Windows desktop Apps in 2017.

Microsoft is yet not revealing any other information about the new ARM initiative. It is expected to be launched in March next year. That means we won’t see ARM-powered devices for quite some time as Microsoft’s is primarily  focusing on laptops first.

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