The Windows on ARM thread

[Dos_Box]

I think it’s about time that we had this discussion, what with both AMD and Nvidia saying they will have desktop ARM processors available from next year - https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/23/23929240/nvidia-amd-cpu-arm-pc-chips-2025-release-rumors - and this will have a BIG impact on IT in every environment.

 

These chips will do a lot for the general world of IT, not just in that no longer will we have a binary choice between which desktop CPU manufacturer we can choose between, but also the extra processing power and lower power consumption that they come with could make quite a saving for school power bills.

All of this, of course, will depend on the price that CPU companies have at launch, and that Windows for ARM is stable and supports the apps we use daily. Microsoft does say that this won’t be an issue though - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/arm/apps-on-arm-x86-emulation - but I think that we’ve all been there before!

 

Will you be diving in straight away, or waiting a year or so to see what, if any, issues come up? Let us know below, or if you have any other questions about ARM in the classroom, then feel free to post it up and hopefully someone will be able to provide an answer 😊

Edited January 9, 2024 by Dos_Box

[supportman]

Lets just hope they can catch up Apple with its M line of chips. Windows/Intel/AMD is so far behind these days on power usage.

[DrCheese]

I have Windows for Arm installed on my Macbook Pro via Parallels & it's been fine for 99.9% of applications. Only the Netsupport DNA console failed miserably on it - It also doesn't have the Windows RSAT tools or any way to deploy software via GPO/MSI but those are workaround able issues.

 

It's fine - It works brilliantly and even the VM performance beats the pants off any Intel device. x86 Apps run super fast.

 

If I don't use Windows and just stick to OSX the battery life is borderline & performance nuts. I used to get so angry at pulling my Windows Laptop out to find it had drained the battery, or would throttle way down when on battery or doing anything that heated it up.

[DalekSec]

Windows is years away from being decent with ARM IMHO, they tried back in the day with the original Surface and failed epicly.

 

In a school environment especially with a ton of legacy software i'd be surprised to see an ARM suite within 5 years. Unless Microsoft throw a curve ball and make a decent clone of Rosetta 2.

 

ARM is the future of CPU's but Windows is miles off, Intel and AMD don't seem to be pushing it too hard at the moment either.

[DrCheese]

Windows is years away from being decent with ARM IMHO, they tried back in the day with the original Surface and failed epicly.

 

In a school environment especially with a ton of legacy software i'd be surprised to see an ARM suite within 5 years. Unless Microsoft throw a curve ball and make a decent clone of Rosetta 2.

 

ARM is the future of CPU's but Windows is miles off, Intel and AMD don't seem to be pushing it too hard at the moment either.

 

 

eh? Have you used a modern version of Windows Arm? It's nothing like the Surface RT days

[DalekSec]

eh? Have you used a modern version of Windows Arm? It's nothing like the Surface RT days

 

I used it last year? Can't remember too much as i used it for 30mins or so realised it still didn't do 90% of what i needed and turned it off!

[Dos_Box]

Lets just hope they can catch up Apple with its M line of chips. Windows/Intel/AMD is so far behind these days on power usage.

 

I think they are largely hamstrung by the x86/x64 architecture, ARM will be like a fresh start I think. I'm also looking forward to more competition in the market.

I do have to wonder though whether these chips will be available as stand-alone items or built into motherboards.

[XiJ]

The thing that will always hold windows back in there need to include legacy apps / code. Apple got around it with Rosetta but Windows has a much larger base and a less refined emulation layer.

 

IMO windows devs need to be brave, strip out all legacy and design a windows Arm from the ground up.

[RobFuller]

I hae been running a Microsoft Surface X for just over a year. Have found performance on the core OS and more and more apps improved greatly over this time. X64 emulation was the game changing moment when truck loads of apps "just worked". I would certainly say it's not high performance but for classroom /medium office use you wouldn't know it was ARM. Adobe Photoshop ARM for example runs pretty well for my moderate use so hopefully as market grows so will the cost benefit of app development complied for ARM rather than reliance on emulation. I for one would be up for trailing it in the classroom and back office certainly as our legacy app reliance in school dwindles and more is moved to web based applications.

[dmj]

[h=2]The ARM on Windows desktop thread[/h]

Surely that's Windows on ARM ?

 

 

I've been running an ARM kubernetes server cluster (on linux) for a while. Instant 30% cost saving ontop of what's already much cheaper than running windows server.

I think that's where the real impetus for ARM lies, in the server market and not the desktop - but the server market is where windows is also behind, so microsoft have a bigger potential marketshare to gain - if they get it right.

[msi_school]

The thing that will always hold windows back in there need to include legacy apps / code. Apple got around it with Rosetta but Windows has a much larger base and a less refined emulation layer.

 

IMO windows devs need to be brave, strip out all legacy and design a windows Arm from the ground up.

 

That's not the Microsoft or Windows we know and love though however, after a couple of years of cyber essentials we wont need all the old software to work.

[RobFuller]

That's not the Microsoft or Windows we know and love though however, after a couple of years of cyber essentials we wont need all the old software to work.

 

This, having worked through Cyber Essentials this has dramatically reduced what we now install on our machines. There is always a sticky application that's hard to replace so sometimes if does take time to trial many alternatives until suitable replacements can be found.

[Dos_Box]

Surely that's Windows on ARM ?

 

 

I've been running an ARM kubernetes server cluster (on linux) for a while. Instant 30% cost saving ontop of what's already much cheaper than running windows server.

I think that's where the real impetus for ARM lies, in the server market and not the desktop - but the server market is where windows is also behind, so microsoft have a bigger potential marketshare to gain - if they get it right.

 

A very good point, I shall amend now.