Microsoft debuts Windows 10 on ARM

[Arthur]

Impressive battery life numbers (if true).

 

Source: Microsoft (via ZDNet)

 

Windows PCs with multi-day battery life soon may no longer be just a pipe dream.

 

A year ago, Microsoft announced it was working with its PC partners to bring Windows 10 to Qualcomm's ARM processors. The resulting machines, part of the "Always Connected PC" ecosystem, would start rolling out before the end of calendar 2017, officials said.

 

Today, 5 Dec., Microsoft provided a progress report on Windows on ARM at Qualcomm's Snapdragon Tech Summit. Microsoft and PC makers Asus and HP showed off new PCs running Windows 10 on Snapdragon 835 at the event.

 

Asus' NovoGo will begin shipping at least in quantities before year-end, I've heard. Models with 4GB of RAM and 16GB of storage will be available starting at $599, and 8GB/256GB storage model at $799, Asus officials said today. Asus is claiming 22 hours of continuous video playback and 30 days of standby.

 

HP's Envy x2 -- like most of the ARM-based Always Connected Windows 10 devices -- won't be available until spring 2018. Users can get up to 20 hours of active use and 700 hours of "Connected Modern Standby." Pricing is not yet available.

 

Microsoft is providing OEMs with a version of its Windows 10 S operating system that works natively on ARM. It also is providing emulation technology so that Win32 apps to also work on Always Connected devices. The company extended the Windows-on-Windows (WoW) compatibility layer that it currently uses to enable x86 applications to run on x64 to ARM devices.

 

HP and Asus will ship their Always Connected devices with Windows 10 S preinstalled, but will give users the option of moving to Windows 10 Pro for free for a limited period of time. Microsoft earlier this year extended the free 10 S to Pro upgrade to March 2018. Asus said that it will offer the 10 S to Pro upgrade for free until September 2018. Windows 10 S is a version of Windows 10 that runs Microsoft Store apps only.

 

While much of the excitement around Always Connected devices centers around their reported battery-life numbers (thanks to the integration of LTE in the ARM chip, making room for bigger batteries inside these PCs), Intel also is part of the Always Connected PC ecosystem. Always Connected is the branding for PCs that include built-in gigabit LTE and Wi-Fi; long battery life (in ARM devices' case, allegedly multiple days without a recharge); run Windows 10; and be thin, light, and fan-less.

 

Unsurprisingly, Microsoft officials are not positioning these as low-end netbook 2.0 devices or as successors to the short-lived Windows RT ones. Always Connected PCs are for those who want the simplicity and connectivity of a phone, blended with the power of a PC, said Matt Barlow, corporate vice president of Windows Marketing. That means everyone from students, to road warriors, to consumers are potential targets for these devices.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rd7R9G1An3s

[mullet_man]

Very interested to see if these kind of chips would work in an education type environment.

 

We’re still a big user of laptops so interested to see if they will run Windows 10 Education rather than S?

And if the battery life is the same or it’s a Windows S only thing?

[free780]

If app v or remote app works on 10 S. It could make sense, you do need intune though.

[3s-gtech]

These could be ideal for situations where a domain joined device with very long battery life is needed - for research, Office and other low intensity tasks these could be a great replacement for laptops with tired batteries.

[free780]

I bet they need to be azure AD joined.

[BKGarry]

Wonder if they will release a software update for the Surface RT

[3s-gtech]

I bet they need to be azure AD joined.

 

I thought that initially, but if they can run 10 Pro surely that's just the same as on desktop - I can't see how it wouldn't be.

[sted]

so ms chromebooks basically?

[synaesthesia]

Wonder if they will release a software update for the Surface RT

 

Highly unlikely but maybe someone may do their work for them. The only reason they couldn't get linux to run on them properly was the secure boot loader, an ARM windows probably wouldn't suffer the same fate.

[Roberto]

Wonder if they will release a software update for the Surface RT

 

I'd never say "never" but I suspect the chances are approximately equal to those of Elvis not only being alive but of being seen by scores of independent and reliable witnesses in Hyde Park riding Shergar.

[mullet_man]

Other than say Technology laptops that use certain modelling applications, a long battery life laptop that just runs Office and does internet browsing would be ideal as that's basically most of our needs met plus a lot of stuff is online now too.

[DJ-1701]

I always thought the first Windows 10 device to run on ARM would be the Microsoft Watch...

[Arthur]

Microsoft outlines the limitations of Windows on ARM devices

 

This week though, Microsoft published some documentation regarding Windows 10 on ARM, and it described the limitations of the new platform.

 

x64 apps won't work

The lack of support for 64-bit Win32 apps has been known for some time. The reason for this is because the emulation that Windows on ARM uses to get Win32 apps working on ARM processors is actually the same emulation layer (Windows on Windows, or WoW) that Microsoft uses to get x86 apps running on x64 machines.

 

There's no Hyper-V

Hyper-V on ARM isn't supported, and according to the documentation, you won't be able to create VMs at all, even with a third-party solution.

 

Mobile apps will struggle

Microsoft's Universal Windows Platform was built in an interesting way. Developers are able to create one app with responsive design (similar to a webpage). The app is then compiled for x86, x64, and ARM platforms, and distributed accordingly. In other words, if the app is built properly, Microsoft could expand Windows 10 Mobile to include x86 support, or expand Windows 10 PCs to include ARM support, and developers wouldn't have to rebuild their apps.

 

Obviously, not all developers follow best practices, and some may have written their code assuming that all ARM devices are phones. These apps might show in the wrong orientation, present other UI issues, or just crash altogether.

 

Some games don't work

Any game that requires a version of OpenGL later than 1.1, or hardware-accelerated OpenGL won't run.

 

Microsoft also says that games that rely on anti-cheat drivers won't work either. ARM PCs will, however, support DirectX 9 through 12.

 

Only ARM64 drivers work

While apps can be emulated on ARM, drivers cannot. All "kernel-mode drivers, User-Mode Driver Framework (UMDF) drivers, and print drivers" must be compiled for the native architecture for the operating system.

 

In other words, if you've written a driver and want people to use it, you should recompile it for ARM. If you're an end user, this could possibly affect your usage of older, unsupported peripherals.

 

Apps that customize Windows might not work

As Microsoft notes, "Native OS components cannot load non-native components." Apps that customize the OS can include input method editors, assistive technologies, and cloud storage applications. In other words, it's pretty much anything that customizes the shell.

[mavhc]

Not too bad then, the new print system should avoid quite a few printer driver issues. If I can buy tablets that join to AD and work with GPO, I'd be quite happy, just have to switch back to deploying 32bit apps, no one will notice.

[free780]

I think MS will required Azure AD and enrollment into intune.

[MicrodigitUK]

I think MS will required Azure AD and enrollment into intune.

 

I definitely expect them to force the Azure AD enrolment. Just to note that: Other windows MDM solutions are available. For instance we are using VMware Airwatch and it is fully integrated with Azure AD. However the MS educational Intune offering does look very appealingly priced.

Edited February 17, 2018 by MicrodigitUK

[mavhc]

If you're paying extra per device the whole point of having cheaper CPUs is wasted. Minimising per device extra costs is my aim. Plus having a whole second set of configs causes extra me time.

 

If it doesn't integrate into existing systems why bother with Windows tablets at all, go with ChromeOS, Android, iOS

Edited February 18, 2018 by mavhc

[free780]

You can do comanagement with SCCM but on prem AD join slows things down a lot. Also when the device is off site the device is constantly looking for DCs etc. Unless you have Direct Access or Always On VPN

[mavhc]

SCCM is another per device cost, right? Laptops seem fine being off site. Looks like they'll have normal domain join, and GPO is pretty much just registry changes, plus the complete failure of Windows on ARM That Didn't Do Domains RT, I bet it'll work.

[snagrat]

Both InTune and SCCM can be licensed based on Staff numbers so it can work out very cheap.

 

For example, one school I work in has 50 staff but 500 devices. It’s only going to cost them circa £300 per year to have them all setup in InTune

[Steve21]

SCCM is another per device cost, right? .

 

Unless it's changed in 2016 the CALS for using SCCM on clients are already included within the standard Desktop CAL packs that most should have on their OVS

 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/licensing/product-licensing/system-center-2012-r2.aspx

 

(Purple table half way down)

 

Microsoft Core CAL Suite includes below items

Windows Server CAL

SharePoint Server Standard CAL

Exchange Server Standard CAL

System Center Configuration Manager Client Management License

System Center Endpoint Protection

Lync Server Standard CAL

 

Microsoft Enterprise CAL Suite includes below items

Includes all Core CAL Suite components plus:

Exchange Server Enterprise CAL with Services [includes Data Loss Prevention and Exchange Online Protection]

Exchange Online Archiving

SharePoint Server Enterprise CAL

Lync Server Enterprise CAL

Windows Server Active Directory Rights Management Services CAL

System Center Client Management Suite

 

 

It's only when you're managing server it gets expensive fast

 

Steve

[Norphy]

Unless it's changed in 2016 the CALS for using SCCM on clients are already included within the standard Desktop CAL packs that most should have on their OVS

 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/licensing/product-licensing/system-center-2012-r2.aspx

 

(Purple table half way down)

 

 

 

It's only when you're managing server it gets expensive fast

 

Steve

 

Even then, for Edu it’s not that much. I think it’s costing us something like £2k to manage our entire server suite which is something like 50 cores overall.

[markwilfan]

Even then, for Edu it’s not that much. I think it’s costing us something like £2k to manage our entire server suite which is something like 50 cores overall.

Costs me about 90 quid per physical server to licence with the infrastructure Cal's with this part

 

9GA-00330

 

Microsoft EDU CORE INFR SRV STE STD

 

And 400 quid per datacenter with this one

 

9GS-00160

 

Microsoft EDU CORE INFR SRV STE DAC

 

I think that's pretty good value tbh

[mavhc]

Yeah, I don't have any of that, £0/year on MS licencing