Will Your Business Applications Run on the Latest Copilot+ Computers? – Computerworld

Microsoft’s first wave of Copilot+ computers are here. They’re powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite hardware, which is a big deal for Windows. It’s Microsoft’s version of Apple moving to Arm architecture with its M-series Macs. And there’s no guarantee that existing Windows apps will run on an Arm-based Windows PC.

The good news is that Very Apps will be run — and Microsoft’s Prism translation layer does a good job of running them at a decent speed. But not everything will work.

Here’s what you need to know.

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Rule #1 Qualcomm Snapdragon Arm Copilot+: No guarantees

The move to Arm architecture is a big change. If Microsoft hadn’t created the Prism translation layer, NO existing Windows apps would “just run” on the Qualcomm Snapdragon computer. It’s like Apple’s move to the Mac, where Rosetta software enabled existing Mac apps to run on the Arm-based M-series chip.

But the Mac is different. With the transition to the Mac, Apple made developers aware: All future Macs will be based on the Arm architecture. Things are different with Windows: Only Some new PCs are using Arm processors. Intel and AMD are not far behind – most Windows PCs will likely use the traditional x86 architecture for many years to come.

To ease the transition, many existing Windows apps will run on an Arm-based computer. And by “just run,” I mean that—you can double-click their installers and run them normally. Unless you dig into the process in Task Manager, you might not even know you’re running an x86 app.

But this support doesn’t go far. Some types of applications won’t work on the Prism translation layer and won’t be functional. Some hardware devices may also not work with these computers. In addition, some demanding professional applications may be slowed down so much by this translation layer that they become unusable.

Chris Hoffman, IDG

Rule #2 Qualcomm Snapdragon Arm Copilot+: Some apps will have problems

There are a few types of apps that are guaranteed not to work properly on Prism. They will work if developers port them to Arm – but there’s no guarantee that developers will care, especially for existing business apps.

Pay special attention to:

• File Sync Tools That Integrate with File Explorer: They need to be ported to Arm to work properly. For example, as shown above, you can’t install Google Drive on a Windows machine on Arm at startup. If this utility is important to you, you’ll need to access Google Drive in a web browser or use a third-party sync app.
• Hardware devices that require drivers provided by the manufacturer: The Prism translation layer won’t help Windows on Arm use x86 hardware drivers. In practice, this means that many existing hardware devices—especially printers—won’t work. This is one reason Microsoft is moving away from vendor-supplied printer drivers.
• Any application that requires a driver: Some applications use drivers for low-level integration with the Windows kernel. For example, many PC games use them for anti-cheat functions. Therefore Fortnite won’t work on Windows on Arm. But the problem goes beyond games and could also affect business-specific productivity tools, since any type of app that uses such low-level Windows integration won’t work. Many third-party antivirus tools also don’t support Windows on Arm.
• Applications with high and demanding design: At launch, Adobe Premiere Pro video editor doesn’t yet run natively on Arm. While it’s possible to run an x86 version with Prism, many users report significant performance issues. Microsoft says a native Arm version will arrive in late 2024. That’s just one example, and you could run into a demanding business app that won’t be ported. (And a demanding app that requires a lot of hardware resources might not deliver the performance you’d expect on an Arm-based machine.)

The slowdowns aren’t limited to high-end apps. All apps will work the best of everything on these computers if the developer ports them to run natively on Arm hardware. But many lightweight apps that don’t require low-level integration with Windows will work fine without any noticeable slowdown.

Chris Hoffman, IDG

3 Ways to Check if Windows Apps Work on Your Arm Copilot+

I wish there was a large database that would list applications and how they work on these computers. At first glance, it doesn’t seem like such a website exists – perhaps someone will start a resource in the future.

For now, Microsoft has backed the Windows on ARM Ready Software website. But despite its promising name, that site is all about PC gaming — which doesn’t do much for users looking for serious productivity in the workplace.

Here are three practical ways to check if an app is compatible:

1. Contact the seller or developer:The best way to find out if an app will work is to contact the vendor or app developer and simply ask if they support their app on Arm-based versions of Windows, such as PCs with Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite hardware.
2. Do the research yourself: You might just want to search the web for the app name and “Arm” or “Snapdragon” to see if other users have reported their experiences. You can find some good discussions on Reddit. Your results may vary depending on how many people use the app.
3. Test it yourself: Many companies will want to test the applications they depend on before they buy Arm-based computers for their employees. There’s really no way to determine if a workflow works other than to try it yourself. If you’re an individual, I recommend considering a return policy: For example, the Microsoft Store has a 60-day return policy. If you buy an Arm-based Copilot+ from Microsoft and find that it doesn’t work with your apps or hardware, you can return it.

With these new laptops set to launch in July 2024, it’s still early days. While Windows on Arm has been around for years, it’s finally starting to look competitive. The demand for compatible software will likely motivate app developers to take it more seriously.

But we all know how Windows works: some business apps were written years ago and will never get a major update to bring them to the new architecture. The good news is that many of them should work fine on these new machines without any additional development effort. The bad news is that the apps that won’t work will be left behind.

Still, that may not be such a bad thing. Intel promises that its upcoming Lunar Lake hardware will compete with these Arm-based computers when it comes to fast performance and long battery life. Intel says you’ll get these benefits without rearchitecting headaches and compatibility with all existing x86 programs—without the need for the Prism translation layer.

We’ll see if Intel can deliver on its promises when its next-generation Core Ultra processors start arriving in late 2024.

I’ll have a lot more to say once I spend more time with these new computers! Sign up for my free Windows Intelligence newsletter to receive all my latest musings, plus three new things to try every Friday, and free Windows Field Guides as a special welcome bonus.

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