Microsoft Lists Down Limitations Of Windows 10 On ARM

Back in December, Microsoft and Qualcomm announced the very first Windows 10 laptops powered by ARM processors (Snapdragon 835). Although the ARM-powered Windows 10 PCs are capable of delivering “all-day” battery life, these devices will come with some hefty limitations.

Last week, Microsoft published a complete list of limitations of Windows 10 on ARM. The list was first discovered by Paul Thurrot. It seems as though Microsoft may have published the list by accident because the company removed it from its support website over the weekend. However, archived copies of the webpage is still available online.

Only ARM64 drivers are supported - Windows 10 on ARM is able to run x86 apps, but it won’t be able to use x86 drivers. This may not not be big deal for some users, but this means that older peripherals may not work. The Verge compared the limitation to how driver support is limited on Windows 10 S.

x64 apps are not supported - At launch, Windows 10 on ARM won’t support x64 apps. However, Microsoft did say that it will bring in x64 app support in a future software update.

Some games and apps just won’t work - if a game or an app uses a version of OpenGL newer than ver. 1.1 or require hardware accelerated OpenGL, they simply won’t work. Microsoft also said that games that use the “anti-cheat” drivers won’t be supported by Windows 10 on ARM.

Apps that customize the Windows experience may not work correctly - apps that use shell extensions, have input method editors (IMEs) and assistive technologies including cloud storage apps won’t work.

Apps that assume that all ARM-based devices are running a mobile version of Windows may not work correctly - Windows Phone apps won’t work correctly on Window 10 ARM devices. These types of apps may not work at all. These apps could also open but in the wrong orientation or its user interface will have layout issues.

Windows Hypervision Platform is not supported - users won’t be able to run virtual machines using Hyper-V with an ARM-powered Windows 10 PC.

Although these limitations may seem daunting, it shouldn’t really affect majority of users who are considering to buy an ARM-powered Windows 10 PC, as pointed out by Engadget. Users will still be able to download most 32-bit exe files from the web and install apps on their ARM computers.

Microsoft has already announced ARM-powered Windows 10 laptops from HP, Lenovo and Asus. No exact release dates have been given for these devices, but HP’s 12.3-inch Envy x2 is scheduled to be released in spring 2018.