Significant Milestone for Windows on Arm

MS has confirmed a major advancement for Windows on Arm with the anticipated release of the RTX Spark platform this fall. Although Windows on Arm initially faced challenges with Windows RT, the platform has been revitalized thanks to Qualcomm's release of the Snapdragon X Series chips. These chips introduced architectural changes, such as Prism, enabling the platform to achieve its current state (as previously discussed in another article).

MS also highlighted the increasing popularity of these devices, emphasizing their energy efficiency and impressive performance:

“The market is sending a clear signal: more silicon providers and more OEM partners are investing in Windows on Arm because customer demand is growing for these powerful and efficient Windows devices and experiences.”

More Apps, More Games

MS's blog, while light on specific numbers, reveals a significant achievement: the Works on Windows on Arm site now catalogs over 7,000 verified apps and games, based on MS's compatibility data. This marks a substantial improvement compared to the discussions around app support when the first Snapdragon X Copilot+ PCs launched two and a half years ago.

On the gaming front, MS has confirmed that over 85% of the Xbox Game Pass catalog is now compatible with Arm-based Windows 11 PCs, following the arrival of the Xbox app on the platform.

With the upcoming launch of the RTX Spark platform, MS has outlined the progress made in app compatibility—a critical factor given the initial skepticism surrounding Windows on Arm, largely due to the challenges experienced with Windows RT.

The difference this time is the hardware. Devices powered by modern chips are significantly more capable, often matching or exceeding their x86 counterparts. MS has also introduced its Arm Advisory Service within the App Assure program to help developers migrate existing apps or create new ones optimized for the Arm-native operating system.

How Prism Emulation Closed the Gap

Native apps are only part of the story. The other critical component is Prism, MS's emulation layer that allows x86 software to run on Arm hardware without recompilation. Prism has undergone consistent updates, including a 2025 update that added support for AVX and AVX2 instructions, which are widely used in game engines and older applications.

Prism has also been specifically optimized for RTX Spark's architecture, ensuring emulated apps perform better on the new hardware than on existing Snapdragon devices.

Nowadays, app compatibility issues are nearly nonexistent. More developers are building native Arm support into their software, while others rely on advanced compiling techniques to ensure seamless emulation of x86 applications. Recent examples of Arm-native applications include Discord, Bluebeam Revu, and Telegram.

Expanding App Support

MS shared a growing list of apps that are now Arm-native. Key categories include:

• Productivity & Creativity: Adobe’s Affinity suite, Inkscape, Perplexity’s Comet browser, Signal, Proton Mail, and Proton Drive.
• Security: Acronis Cyber Protect, Sophos, Trellix, MS Configuration Manager, and Purview clients.
• Education & STEM: Safe Exam Browser, MATLAB, and Turnitin, highlighting a focus on educational institutions.

Gaming is also a priority. NVIDIA announced at Gamescom that numerous new titles would be available on Windows on Arm, including updates to anti-cheat software to ensure compatibility.

User Skepticism Remains

While app compatibility on Windows on Arm has significantly improved, customer perception remains a challenge. Early adopters of the Snapdragon X PCs in 2024 may still harbor doubts due to their initial experiences. MS’s renewed messaging ahead of the RTX Spark launch appears aimed at addressing potential skepticism toward this next generation of hardware.

Nonetheless, independent compatibility tests conducted earlier this year demonstrated that most popular apps now function reliably on the platform.

Comparing Windows on Arm to Apple’s Strategy

Apple's transition to Apple Silicon in 2020 benefited from the company’s control over both hardware and the software stack, along with the introduction of Rosetta 2 as a temporary solution. Most developers adapted within a year or two because there was only one Arm Mac platform to support.

In contrast, MS's situation is more complex. Windows on Arm must accommodate a variety of hardware platforms, including Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series, NVIDIA’s RTX Spark, and other OEM devices, all while ensuring compatibility with decades of x86 software through Prism. Achieving over 7,000 verified apps under these conditions is a remarkable accomplishment.

What RTX Spark Means for the Future

The RTX Spark represents a significant leap forward compared to Snapdragon X. It features a 20-core Arm CPU paired with a full Blackwell RTX GPU and CUDA support, catering to creators and developers who require robust GPU performance.

MS has reportedly rewritten its task scheduler to optimize the RTX Spark's hybrid CPU-GPU architecture, and Prism has been further fine-tuned for this new hardware. NVIDIA CEO confirmed that RTX Spark will run all apps that have ever been compatible with Windows.

As MS concludes:

“Windows on Arm is no longer defined by potential, but by a rapidly expanding ecosystem of devices with apps available across workloads that customers depend on most. As developers continue to invest in Arm-native experiences and compatibility, customers gain more choices, flexibility, and confidence in adopting the next generation of Windows devices.”