If Microsoft is to have a chance with ARM machines this time, they must get developers on board and be able to offer games.
Trying again
The latter is apparently not a problem: " The performance has been tested in limited test environments, and we do not know how the battery life will be in practice. These are fundamental questions when launching semi-new platforms, and what about game performance? One thing is lack of support, which is solved with emulation, but that means loss of performance, right? No, says Qualcomm developer Issam Khalil, who believes that performance in x86 games in an ARM environment will deliver almost 100 percent performance compared to x86.”
Microsoft failed with Windows ARM last time because it lacked a proper app ecosystem. There was also not enough hardware, and all software had to be digitally signed by Microsoft – the combination was fatal for Windows RT launched in January 2011.
Promises good performance
But at least, whether the project fails or not this time, Google is already ready with Chrome for Windows ARM. The launch is in collaboration with Qualcomm for the best possible performance and has been in beta testing for two months and is ready for the announcement of Windows ARM and new Snapdragon X Elite machines on May 21.
“We designed Chrome to be fast, secure, and easy to use across desktop and mobile devices. Our close collaboration with Qualcomm will help ensure that Chrome users have the best possible experience while browsing the web on current Arm-compatible PCs,” said Google's Hiroshi Lockheimer.