Some reviews are in for the new Windows on Arm experience, and I wanted to highlight the Verge’s look at apps. The Windows on Arm experience has significantly improved, with native versions of popular apps like Photoshop, Dropbox, and Zoom now available. Microsoft’s Prism emulator offers better performance for emulated apps, but heavyweight apps like Adobe Premiere Pro and Blender still struggle. Gaming on Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus processors is disappointing due to compatibility issues with anticheat services. There are also some compatibility issues with external devices and VPN apps. However, app compatibility on Windows on Arm is improving rapidly, and more ARM64 native apps are expected in the future.
Real world performance of these new machines will be important for businesses – but particularly in SMB, I expect we’ll see the opportunity for more rapid adoption. The rapid pace of improvement in app compatibility suggests a promising future for Windows on Arm.