Microsoft announced another major milestone for its Windows on ARM project. Now, with the launch of Visual Studio 15.9, developers can start creating 64-bit apps that will run on Always-Connected PCs. These devices run Windows 10 on Qualcomm Snapdragon ARM-based processors, rather than Intel or AMD silicon.<\/b>
\nMore powerful apps, games, and programs will be headed to Microsoft\u2019s Windows or ARM project in the near future. Microsoft announced that it is now giving the tools needed for developers to easily create 64-bit ARM, otherwise known as ARM64, apps. The company also announced that it is now starting to accept ARM64 apps for developers.
This is a major milestone for the platform, as Microsoft\u2019s previous efforts on bringing Windows to Qualcomm\u2019s ARM-based Snapdragon processor was limited to 32-bit apps. With the announcement, developers can now use Microsoft Visual Studio 15.9 to compile ARM64 apps, and those apps will be ready for systems that presently ship with Qualcomm\u2019s Snapdragon 850 silicon.
The Windows on ARM project, also known as the Always-Connected PC, began as a way for Microsoft to develop lightweight computers with the power and stamina to compete against the rise of Google\u2019s Chromebooks and Apple\u2019s iPad Pro. The platform\u2019s long battery life and built-in 4G LTE modem means that users could still get an always-on, always-connected computing experience with all-day battery life, even when they\u2019re away from a Wi-Fi hotspot.
The platform did encounter a big early hiccup because of Microsoft\u2019s delayed launch of the October 2018 Update for Windows 10. The October 2018 Update is technically the first version of Microsoft\u2019s Windows 10 platform to support running Windows 10 on ARM processors, and the delayed launch due to some glitches meant that hardware manufacturers \u2014 like Lenovo and Samsung \u2014 who wanted to deliver their devices in time for the holiday shopping season had to ship Windows on ARM systems with an older, unsupported version of Windows 10.
Fortunately, though, Microsoft has since corrected early issues with the Windows 10 Update, and the company has resumed the software update process. Early adopters of Lenovo\u2019s and Samsung\u2019s Windows on ARM systems can update to the October 2018 Update to get the best experience.
Unlike the now-defunct Windows RT platform, which debuted when Microsoft introduced its Surface RT hardware, Windows 10 on ARM supports a broader array of apps. While Windows RT only supported apps officially downloaded from Microsoft\u2019s Windows Store, which itself has a very limited catalog compared to what is available on iOS and Android, Windows on ARM users can run.exe installers, similar to a traditional PC. Adding 64-bit support will make the platform compatible with even more apps currently available to PC users, though we\u2019ll likely to see what, if any, performance hits exist compared to running 64-bit apps on processors from Intel and AMD.<\/p>\n

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