Change of plans! The Windows 11 flavor of Microsoft’s ARM platform is the one that will be getting the most wanted x64 emulation, as the company has made a decision to make it exclusive to the newer OS.
Redmond revealed that it is shelving the plans to support this emulation layer for Windows 10 on ARM in an update to its original blog post that clarified that x64 emulation is now generally available on Windows 11.
Meaning, those of you who are running the OS on an ARM device can give it a go.
As for the reasoning behind this shift, Microsoft explained in a statement to Thurrott that:
“We have received questions about the status of x64 emulation in Windows 10. Microsoft wants to share an update that x64 emulation for Windows is only generally available in Windows 11. For those interested in experiencing x64 emulation, a PC running Windows 11 on Arm is required. Microsoft is committed to supporting customers on Windows 10 on Arm through October 14, 2025.”
So, basically, the company has not detailed a reason for this change in plans.
And while Windows 10 on ARM will be supported until 2025, these users will only have to make do with the 32-bit x86 emulation that is available to them for running their desktop programs on this alternate platform.
It was back in December 2020, when Microsoft and Qualcomm partnered to announce a preview of x64 emulation for Windows 10 ARM via the Insider Program.
The idea was to allow an avenue for more resource intensive apps like Google Chrome and Adobe software to utilize the 64-bit emulation layer and have them gain some performance benefits due to better memory utilization.
Then again, with all attention shifting to the newer OS, making this feature exclusive to Windows 11 should come as no big surprise.
