Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Microsoft Cancels x64 Emulation on Windows 10 on Arm to Boost Windows 11

posted by chromas on Friday November 19 2021, @08:02PM   Printer-friendly
from the the-last-windii dept.

takyon writes:

Microsoft is no longer bringing x64 emulation to Windows 10 on ARM

Last December, Microsoft announced that it would bring x64 emulation to Windows 10 on ARM, a feature missing from the fledgling OS. Windows 10 on ARM already supported x86 emulation but making sure you have a 32-bit installer is not ideal. Initially, Microsoft brought x64 emulation to the Windows Insider Program, although you need a preview version of the Qualcomm Adreno graphics driver for some ARM machines that supported Windows 10 ARM.

Since then, Microsoft has released Windows 11, including an ARM version. For some reason, the company has now decided to quietly drop any intentions of integrating x64 emulation within Windows 10 on ARM. Inexplicably, it only confirmed this change in a Windows Blogs post where most people would miss it.

Windows Insider blog. Also at The Verge.

Previously: Microsoft Document Details Windows 10 on ARM Limitations

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Microsoft Cancels x64 Emulation on Windows 10 on Arm to Boost Windows 11 | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 16 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Friday November 19 2021, @11:33PM (1 child)

    by tangomargarine (667) on Friday November 19 2021, @11:33PM (#1197930)

    Honestly, for a lot of things x86 emulation is more than adequate - except for (as you point out) newer stuff. God forbid I want to run new software on my new computer ... that the software wasn't designed for ... on an OS that wasn't really designed for the platform either.

    FTFY

    If you your database, video editing software, game, etc. needs more than 4GB of RAM to run well, then it NEEDs to be x64, there is no other option.

    Are any of those three going to do particularly well in the first place on a low-power platform, though? If you're doing heavy-duty transcoding or gaming, wouldn't it work better on x86?

    You don't see me buying a Chromebook then complaining that I can't game on it. Maybe with sufficient force you *can* jam that square peg into that round hole, but is it better to ask why you're doing so to begin with?

    And the feature is going to be on Windows 11 anyway, just not on Windows 10. There are so many qualifiers to this problem it's not even funny.

    --
    "Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   2  

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Immerman on Friday November 19 2021, @11:51PM

    by Immerman (3985) on Friday November 19 2021, @11:51PM (#1197932)

    It's a Windows computer - the ONLY reason anyone is likely to buy it is to run Windows software, hence the software *is* designed for it.

    ARM is low *electric* power - not low performance. Some of the newer high-performance ARM chips are beginning to rival mid-to-high-end x64 CPUs. And as I mentioned, ARM is already wiping the floor with x64 of a performance-per-watt basis, which means that for a lot of potential laptop and server software, ARM is already the performance leader. It's only desktops where power consumption is mostly irrelevant that x64 still clearly holds the performance crown. (including "foldable desktops" or whatever you'd call high-performance "laptops" whose battery is only good enough to save you from having to shut down while moving to a new power outlet)