Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

A huge barrier just fell for Windows on Arm

By
The back of the Surface Pro 9, with the kickstand pulled out.
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Windows on Arm hasn’t caught on yet, despite years of effort from Microsoft. One of the biggest issues facing Arm-based processors on Windows has been app support, but one major holdout just opened up support for these CPUs.

Google Chrome has been at the center of the conversation around app support for Windows on Arm, but it appears Google is prepping a native Arm version. The build went live late Thursday night in the Nightly channel for Google Chrome, which is a developer channel that showcases cutting-edge features (and plenty of bugs) for those who want to be on the bleeding edge of what Google Chrome has to offer.

Recommended Videos

Microsoft has offered a native version of its Edge browser for Arm-based machines, but those who prefer Google Chrome were forced to run an emulated version with poor performance. It’s a big deal to see a native Arm version of Chrome considering the browser holds around 65% of the market. That compares to only 5% of market share for Edge.

It’s monumental for Windows on Arm, and a clear statement that Arm-based Windows PCs may become more popular soon. Qualcomm has already revealed its Snapdragon X Elite processors for Windows laptops, which are set to launch this year. In addition, reports show that Nvidia and AMD are prepping Arm-based chips that will launch next year.

The momentum behind Windows on Arm has only grown since Apple introduced its M-series chips. Since ditching Intel, Apple used an Arm design for the processors in Macs that has shown remarkable performance and battery life. The battery life portion is especially important, as we continue to see Windows machines like the Asus ProArt StudioBook 16 that show great performance, but poor battery life.

Considering how many applications run in the browser, native support for Google Chrome on Arm makes the future of these new processors on Windows devices much brighter. The next big holdout is Adobe, which currently only supports native versions of Lightroom and Photoshop on Arm. We expect to see more native versions of apps as Qualcomm’s chips make their way into laptops toward the middle of the year.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Jacob Roach
Jacob Roach
Lead Reporter, PC Hardware
Jacob Roach is the lead reporter for PC hardware at Digital Trends. In addition to covering the latest PC components, from…
PC gamers — Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 are officially dead
Windows 10 running on the Steam Deck.

We all knew it was coming, but it's still sad to see Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 go. Valve announced that it ended support for the three operating systems on January 1, 2024, essentially ending the life of the storied operating systems for the small batch of PC gamers still using them. We had a great run.

Before we cry foul that Valve is shuttering Steam support for potential users, understand that Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 only make up a total of 0.89% of all Steam users. That's not an insignificant number of users -- there are 31 million online users on Steam at the time of writing, nearly 10 million of which are playing games -- but I'd wager a large number of those users either have other, newer PCs, or aren't active on Steam most days.

Read more
Google just settled a $5B privacy suit involving Chrome browser
The Google Chrome logo on a smartphone.

Google has agreed to settle a $5 billion lawsuit brought by claimants who accused the web giant of privacy invasion by tracking their online activities despite being in “incognito mode” when using the company’s Chrome browser.

After lawyers announced on Thursday that they’d reached a preliminary agreement, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers put a scheduled trial for the case in California on hold, Reuters reported.

Read more
Windows 12 could repeat Windows 11’s big mistake
surface laptop studio 2 review 07

The first details about Windows 12 are starting to take shape, and the rumored OS could repeat the biggest mistake of Windows 11. As we've heard previously, the new OS will likely have a big focus on AI features. Now, we're hearing that many of those features will require a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU), as reported by Windows Central.

It's hard to forget the fumble Microsoft made with Windows 11 and its requirement of a Trusted Platform Module (TPM). This security chip isn't included, at least in hardware, on the majority of off-the-shelf PC components, leading many to believe their PC wasn't compatible with Windows 11 when it really was.

Read more