Microsoft is pinning its hopes on Windows on ARM to be the next big thing, and in 2023 it's launching Arm consulting services for developers. Now, Microsoft is expanding its support for developers around the world to help them build apps and devices for ARM.
The new announcement explains that the service now supports English, Chinese (Simplified, Traditional), and Japanese. In addition, it will be available during business hours in any local time zone.
The program is designed to encourage developers to build new applications and transition existing applications for Windows ARM devices. Microsoft sees Windows on ARM as a great opportunity for the App Assure team to help developers solve various problems and get applications up and running.
Microsoft also said that interest in new ARM processors has skyrocketed, and that "many in the industry believe that Windows on ARM devices is the future of computing, with unmatched speed, battery life, and connectivity."
While expanding support, Microsoft also revealed that major manufacturers will launch a series of new laptops with Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors in 2024. These processors will have a dedicated neural processing unit (NPU) built in to natively handle AI tasks on the device.
Microsoft plans to introduce several NPU-based features in Windows 11 settings and apps, including AI upscaling, AI Explorer, Paint, and more. Microsoft has unveiled the new Surface Laptop 6 and Surface Pro 10 laptops with Intel Core Ultra processors and NPUs.
However, the Snapdragon X Elite's performance benchmark results are very impressive, surpassing the previous generation of Apple M chips.
Previously, the Snapdragon X Elite's Geekbench benchmark score was exposed, which looked very impressive. With a single-core score of 2,574 and a multi-core score of 12,562, the new Snapdragon X Elite processor is hard to ignore.
Recently leaked information revealed that the Snapdragon X Elite processor will come in four variants, each of which is suitable for a specific use case. In addition, the leaked information also revealed the situation with the Snapdragon X Plus series processors, which are slightly inferior in performance to the Elite series.
Windows ARM devices (at least for the current time) are expensive, but moderately powerful processors will appeal to more laptop users. Microsoft believes that ARM devices are a combination of performance and efficiency that can extend the battery life of laptops.
Qualcomm has already reached cooperation intentions with several manufacturers (Lenovo, Dell, HP) that plan to release new devices. In addition, app brands such as NordVPN, SurfShark, and Foxit have joined Microsoft's ARM program.
If you're a developer looking to build an app for an ARM device or looking for support, you can contact the App Assure team using the form.