Microsoft is banking on Windows on ARM to be the next big thing and previously launched the Arm Advisory Service for developers in 2023. Now, it’s expanding support to developers worldwide to assist them in building apps and devices for ARM.
The new announcement explains that the service now supports English, Chinese (simplified, traditional), and Japanese languages. In addition, it will be available during business hours in any local time zone.
This program intends to encourage developers to build new apps and transition existing apps for Windows ARM devices. Microsoft considers Windows on ARM an excellent opportunity, and the App Assure team can help developers iron out the kinks and make apps work.
Microsoft also said that interest in the new ARM processors has risen sharply, and “many across the industry consider Windows on ARM devices as the future of computing, with unparalleled speed, battery life, and connectivity.”
Along with the extended support, Microsoft shared that a new series of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite-powered laptops from major manufacturers will hit the market in 2024. These processors will pack a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to handle AI tasks natively on the device.
Microsoft plans to bring multiple NPU-based features in Windows 11 settings and apps, including an AI upscaling feature, AI Explorer, Paint, and more. It already launched the new Surface Laptop 6 and Surface Pro 10 laptops with Intel Core Ultra processors with NPU.
But the Snapdragon X Elite performance benchmarks are extremely promising and overshadow previous-gen Apple M-chips.
Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus chips will power the upcoming ARM devices.
Previously, Windows Latest spotted the Snapdragon X Elite’s Geekbench scores, which looked very impressive. With a single-core score of 2574 and a multi-core score of 12562, it is hard to overlook the impressive power of the new Snapdragon X Elite processors.
A recent leak revealed that there would be four variants of the Snapdragon X Elite processors, each suited for a specific use case. Moreover, the leak also shed light on the Snapdragon X Plus series processors, which are somewhat inferior to the Elite series.
Windows ARM devices, at least the current-gen ones, are costly, but a moderate-performance processor would appeal to a broader segment of laptop users. Microsoft considers ARM devices to be a perfect blend of performance and efficiency, thereby extending the battery life of a portable computer.
However, it has already onboarded multiple manufacturers (Lenovo, DELL, HP) who plan to release new devices. Moreover, app brands like NordVPN, SurfShark, and Foxit have joined Microsoft’s ARM endeavors.
If you are a developer curious to build apps for ARM devices or are looking for support, you can use the form to contact the App Assure team.