Microsoft's growing support for ARM architecture is reflected - at last! - by the release of the Windows 11 ISO on its official website. But...
A few months ago, Microsoft undoubtedly gave its strongest support yet to the ARM architecture. Although history will record numerous attempts by the software giant to move towards this architecture, it wasn't until May 2024 and the official announcement of a new family of machines - the Copilot+ PCs - that we saw any truly major support from the Redmond company. And it wasn't just Microsoft that made the announcement: Qualcomm and its Snapdragon processors also played an important role.
Yet, as revolutionary as this announcement was, the success of Copilot+ PCs is slow to materialize in concrete terms at a time when, in any case, the PC market is clearly not in the best of health. To make matters worse, in the five months since Copilot+ PCs were launched, it has still not been possible for users to download a "clean" Windows 11 ISO compatible with their architecture. Reinitialization of these machines had to go through the OS's built-in option, with the risks that this poses when, precisely, the said option refuses to work.
Windows 11 ARM ISO download
Now it's done: Microsoft has made the official announcement and, on the Windows 11 download site, you'll find the ISO for the ARM architecture. But, as things are never simple with Microsoft, the download is not quite like the others: this option is seen as an emergency solution, a way of helping users out, and there is no question of the company providing the Media creation or Installation Wizard tools available for the x64 version.
Nor is there any question of offering automatic USB key creation, leaving users to carry out the procedure themselves. What's more, on older ARM machines - we're not talking about Copilot+ PCs, of course - driver problems will undoubtedly arise, and it will be necessary to integrate them into the ISO yourself: a procedure that isn't very complex, but remains out of reach for many users. Incomplete though it may be, this option is nevertheless another step in the right direction for Microsoft.
