This news is likely to disappoint users of Windows 10 on ARM, especially Surface Pro X owners.
This is what is called a reversal even if some observers had felt it coming. Remember, in December 2020, Microsoft partnered with Qualcomm, the king of ARM solutions. The two companies then had in mind to boost Windows 10 on ARM so that it would be able to concern more x86 applications. At the time, emulation of these applications only involved 32-bit software. Microsoft and Qualcomm were proud to announce a preview version of x64 emulation on Windows 10 on ARM as part of the Windows Insider program.
Who says preview version, says still long months of development to achieve something fully functional. In the meantime, Microsoft has announced, presented and released Windows 11. In doing so, it also changed its plans for the aging Windows 10. And what was supposed to happen happened. Inan update to the original article presenting the preview of x64 emulation on Windows 10 on ARM, Microsoft's development equipment confirmed a reversal on the part of the publisher.
In a statement to Thurrott, Microsoft says, " We have received questions about the status of x64 emulation in Windows 10. Microsoft wants to share this update to clarify that x64 emulation for Windows is only available on Windows 11. So for those who want to try x64 emulation, a PC running Windows 11 on ARM is required. Microsoft is committed to supporting customers running Windows 10 on ARM until October 14, 2025."
In a nutshell, if Microsoft confirms that it is not abandoning Windows 10 on ARM by insisting on guaranteed support until 2025, it also emphasizes that there will never be any question of porting x64 emulation to the operating system, which will therefore be satisfied with 32-bit applications. To take advantage of the next step, it is therefore on Windows 11 on ARM that we must count. Microsoft did not try to justify this change and we can simply conclude that it wants to port its new OS more.
