FEBRUARY 2021 PCWorld 61A
fter Apple released its
impressive M1 Arm chip on its
new Macs, and Microsoft
followed with its long-awaited
64-bit X86 emulator, we had just one
question: How does Windows on ARM
compare to macOS on ARM? The answer:
badly. Very, very badly.
Running Windows apps on ARM
processors has a few wrinkles. For one, there
are only two chips currently poweringWindows on ARM machines: Qualcomm’s
own processors, such as the Snapdragon 8cx
(go.pcworld.com/8cx1) and Snapdragon
8cx Gen 2 (go.pcworld.com/8cx2), as well
as the derivative SQ1 and SQ2 processors
Microsoft co-designed with Qualcomm. The
latter two processors both appear in
Microsoft’s Surface Pro X tablet.
Until last week, WOA devices have only
been able to run apps coded natively for the
Snapdragon ARM architecture, or run 32-bitIMAGE: MICROSOFT
Tested: How badly Windows on
ARM compares to the new Mac M1s
Two years ago, Windows on ARM looked viable. Now, it needs a lifeline. BY MARK HACHMAN