Microsoft says "hundreds" of AAA and indie games will run on NVIDIA RTX Spark PCs from day one, though Call of Duty will not be one of them. Windows and Devices head Pavan Davuluri made the claim at Microsoft's Windows and Surface event on October 7, where he also said Call of Duty support is coming in 2027. Apparently, no reason was given for the wait, and Microsoft didn't say which Call of Duty title they meant. That is an awkward gap, since Activision is a Microsoft-owned studio and the RTX Spark-equipped Surface Laptop Ultra starts at $2,599 with shipping set for October 16.

Anti-cheat is probably the holdup, although Microsoft hasn't confirmed that. RTX Spark uses an Arm-based CPU, so games run on Windows on Arm, and kernel-level anti-cheat drivers have to be rebuilt for it. Call of Duty relies on Activision's own Ricochet anti-cheat, which, as far as we know, only works on x86 systems today. Davuluri did show Gears of War: E-Day running at 60 FPS on the Surface Laptop Ultra. However, the resolution and upscaling settings were not disclosed, so the figure says little about real performance. It also isn't clear how many of those "hundreds" of games are native Arm builds and how many run through emulation. NVIDIA released its RTX Spark toolkit for Windows-on-Arm game development in July, and EA, Embark, and Ubisoft committed titles such as Apex Legends, ARC Raiders, and Anno 117: Pax Romana at Gamescom.

AMD's processors are notoriously missing from Microsoft's latest Surface device line-up, despite there being more CPU options in Microsoft Surface PCs than ever before, including an upcoming NVIDIA SKU. In a recent statement to Windows Central, Microsoft's Surface Corporate Vice President, Brett Ostrum, explained that this absence is deliberate, although not malicious, stating that Microsoft has a limited portfolio and needs to make smart choices about its offerings.

We love working with AMD. We have a limited portfolio, and so we have to make our choices pretty wisely in terms of what we're doing and where we're doing.

After launching the Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Plus series of processors for Windows-on-Arm, Qualcomm is now bringing first-class support for these SoCs to Linux as well. According to the company, the internal developer team has been working to integrate full SoC support into the Linux kernel for the Snapdragon X2 series of hardware. Currently, the developer team is focusing on supporting the X2 SoC in traditional laptop configurations rather than desktop mini PCs. Initial enablement includes support for Hexagon NPU, Adreno GPU, and, of course, the CPU cluster that underpins the entire SoC. Modern browser acceleration, graphics, I/O peripherals, display output, and AI acceleration for local inferencing have been added. The support now also includes proper power and thermal control, as well as the reliability and endurance of the SoC under load.

Qualcomm is pushing all of this hardware enablement upstream to the Linux kernel and has also collaborated with the Debian operating system to get the latest image working. Basic workloads will now run out of the box, while the company continues testing for any gaps and other areas that need focus for enablement. More peripherals are being added to work with these SoCs, and edge cases like power spikes during workloads will be addressed in the long-term enablement, as Qualcomm continues to push these changes upstream. This work in progress is expected to finish in November this year, after which Qualcomm plans to continue adding more OEMs to the Snapdragon X2 bandwagon and potentially bring these PCs with a Linux-based OS pre-installed.

Microsoft has released Windows 11 version 26H2 to the Release Preview Channel, with build number 26300.9278, for Windows Insiders. As we mentioned just a few days ago, Windows 11 26H2 is one of the more boring releases in terms of new features. This update focuses on resetting the support cycles that Microsoft is implementing, rather than introducing major features or overhauls. For those upgrading, the main change will be an extension of the support cycle as users transition to the 26H2 release.

Since late 2024, support and updates have been rolled out across every OS branch, with each new release cycle activating these features rather than leaving them dormant in the kernel. Enablement packages (eKB) are central to this process, as downloading an update essentially involves eKBs that activate certain functionalities. For instance, on a device running Windows 11 24H2 or 25H2, a simple eKB is needed to upgrade to the latest Windows 11 26H2 version. For older versions like 22H2 and 23H2, which are on an older servicing branch, Windows 11 26H2 will be a full feature update.

NVIDIA announced today that some of the world's leading game developers are supporting the upcoming RTX Spark PC platform. Launching this fall, RTX Spark will include support for major AAA titles, featuring the work of publishers and developers like Electronic Arts, Embark, and Ubisoft. This list of major publishers pledging their support for the platform is growing, with KRAFTON, NetEase, Riot Games, SEGA, and Xbox already on board. Newly added titles include EA's EA SPORTS F1 25 and Apex Legends, Ubisoft's Anno 117: Pax Romana, and Embark Studios' ARC Raiders and THE FINALS, with many more to come.

Additionally, NVIDIA has collaborated with EA to ensure the EA Javelin Anticheat system supports the RTX Spark Windows-on-Arm platform, making online gaming possible. As readers may know, modern games with online features often include complex anticheat engines that are usually platform-specific, making them difficult to port without the developer's involvement. Many anticheat engines run exclusively on Windows for x86 CPUs, leaving out Linux-based gamers and Arm-based Windows gamers like those using the upcoming RTX Spark. By porting its Javelin Anticheat system to Windows-on-Arm, EA suggests that other developers may soon follow suit with their own anticheat systems.

According to Windows Latest, Microsoft's upcoming Windows 11 26H2 is expected to be one of the most uneventful releases in terms of new features. Instead, this release focuses on resetting the support cycles that Microsoft is implementing, rather than introducing major features or overhauls. For those who are not aware, Microsoft has altered its update approach for Windows 11 for some time now. Since Windows 11 24H2, the company has adopted a shared servicing model applied to the Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 branches. Since late 2024, support and updates have been rolled out across every OS branch, with each new release cycle activating these features rather than leaving them dormant in the kernel. Enablement packages (eKB) are central to this process, as downloading an update essentially involves eKBs that activate certain functionalities.

For instance, on a device running Windows 11 24H2 or 25H2, a simple eKB is needed to upgrade to the latest Windows 11 26H2 version. For older versions like 22H2 and 23H2, which are on an older servicing branch, Windows 11 26H2 will be a full feature update. In terms of new functionality with 26H2, Microsoft's focus is on resetting the support cycle timeline. The 26H2 version will receive regular support for 24 months on Home and Pro versions, while Enterprise and Education versions will receive 36 months of support. Starting from 2026, this support will extend until October 2028 for Home and Pro, and until October 2029 for Enterprise and Education. For those already running Windows 11 24H2 and 25H2 with the latest updates and patches, 26H2 will not introduce any new features.

NVIDIA has officially brought its RTX Neural Texture Compression (NTC) technology to Windows-on-Arm, gearing up for a general release on its RTX Spark PC platform. First demonstrated at GTC 2026 in May, NVIDIA showcased how NTC can significantly reduce GPU VRAM usage by up to seven times. In a technology demo at one of the GTC 2026 sessions, NVIDIA revealed that NTC can lower VRAM usage from 6.5 GB to just 970 MB in certain scenes. NTC technology is an AI-driven texture output that enables games to feature high-quality, complex materials without sacrificing performance. Games can take advantage of the substantial VRAM reduction that NTC offers while maintaining the same texture quality.

For the upcoming RTX Spark, NVIDIA is enhancing the software ecosystem so gamers and future buyers receive a mature software that works seamlessly out of the box, eliminating the need for workarounds. Even Japan's legendary SEGA has released AAA titles optimized for RTX Spark and is dedicating more resources to support the ecosystem. NVIDIA has already started shipping its first preview build of the CUDA toolkit for the RTX Spark platform, specifically as a native Windows-on-Arm software toolkit. Now, emerging technologies like NTC will run on RTX Spark, which includes configurations such as one with 6,144 CUDA cores and another with 5,120 CUDA cores. Both configurations are based on the "Blackwell" GPU microarchitecture and are paired with a 20-core Arm CPU and up to 128 GB of LPDDR5X memory.

A long-time TechPowerUp forum user who goes by Fouquin just posted a surprisingly in-depth review of the upcoming Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra, featuring the NVIDIA RTX Spark Arm-based SoC. In a bizarre stroke of luck, the user says that he found the Microsoft Surface Laptop Ultra on the side of the road and decided to pick it up "assuming it was trash."

While the review is not an official TechPowerUp review, so it cannot be directly compared to our existing benchmarks for other laptops and CPUs, the user has done surprisingly thorough testing of the Laptop Ultra using the Phoronix test suite. While the Surface Laptop Ultra in question was running very old graphics drivers initially, Fouquin was able to update the drivers to NVIDIA preview version 616.00, which added CUDA support for the built-in Blackwell GPU. The version of the Spark SoC present in the test unit is the top-end variant with 6,144 cores and a 20-core CPU.

News recently broke that NVIDIA had published the first native Windows-on-Arm toolkit for its RTX Spark platform, and it didn't take long for a Chinese developer, VoidTech, and modder to use NVIDIA's work to get an NVIDIA RTX 4060 working on an Arm-powered Huawei Qingyun desktop with a Kunpeng 920 CPU.

In a video on Bilibili, the developer explains that he managed to get the device supported by extracting NVIDIA's ARM64 driver from the Spark software. He adds that, while the device is recognized by both NVIDIA's driver and TechPowerUp's GPU-Z, and is able to accelerate graphics tasks, there is no video output, so he notes that it is "suitable for use with streaming" (machine translation).

NVIDIA has released a developer preview of GeForce drivers for its RTX Spark PC platform, confirming the variants of the N1X chip and the SKU separation that will occur. In GeForce driver version 616.00, this marks the company's first driver package compiled for the Windows-on-Arm (WoA) platform. Thanks to Windows Latest, which extracted the installation file and examined the information file, it appears there are two main RTX Spark N1X chip SKUs: one with 6,144 CUDA cores and another with 5,120 CUDA cores. Both are based on the "Blackwell" GPU microarchitecture and are paired with a 20-core Arm CPU and up to 128 GB of LPDDR5X memory.

NVIDIA is working with Microsoft to optimize Windows 11, and developers now have access to the optimization techniques needed to get their AAA titles, productivity software, and other applications ported and optimized for running on NVIDIA's latest platform. A few days ago, we noted that NVIDIA is rolling out the CUDA toolkit for its RTX Spark platform, specifically as a native Windows-on-Arm software toolkit, and this driver version 616.00 is part of that toolkit.

NVIDIA has officially released its first preview build of the CUDA toolkit for its RTX Spark platform, specifically as a native Windows-on-Arm software toolkit. This means that NVIDIA's partners, ecosystem developers, and game developers now have the means to perform native platform optimization for the latest NVIDIA chips. This is particularly important since the platform is one of the few Windows-on-Arm designs available on the market. For decades, modern PC gaming has focused on x86-based operating systems, giving Intel and AMD an advantage in gaming scenarios. Consequently, most indie and major AAA titles have been developed natively for x86 processors, with Arm making little progress in this area. However, NVIDIA expects this to change as the company begins rolling out optimization toolkits to create native, optimized Arm builds for its RTX Spark mini PCs and laptops.

NVIDIA's upcoming N1 SoC, designed for gaming laptops, has officially appeared for the first time alongside its motherboard intended for a laptop. Featuring 128 GB of LPDDR5X memory running at 8,533 MT/s, the SoC is paired with SK hynix modules. NVIDIA's OEM partners for this launch, including Dell and Lenovo, have confirmed that the new NVIDIA laptop platform will be available this year, and we have seen early benchmark submissions of the N1 SoC. As NVIDIA prepares to enter the gaming laptop market, the company initially released its GB10 SoC for the DGX Spark mini workstation. This chip allowed NVIDIA to test its collaboration with MediaTek on developing new low-power SoCs that offer unusually high-performance graphics for AI applications, as well as very high RAM capacity.

In the latest images that appeared on Goofish, we see a laptop motherboard equipped with the NVIDIA N1 SoC and 128 GB of LPDDR5X memory closely packed in a specialized PCB area. This area might be designated for the cooler, which could potentially also cool the LPDDR5X memory modules. NVIDIA plans to introduce its N1/N1X SoCs with Arm-based CPU cores around Computex 2026. These will offer consumers 20 CPU cores, consisting of 10 Cortex-X925 and 10 Cortex-A725 CPU cores based on the Armv9.2 ISA, along with a "Blackwell" GPU optimized for low power settings with up to 6,144 CUDA cores in the higher-end form. You can also see the port selection on the side of the PCB, which seems to be USB-C or Thunderbolt 4/5, USB-A, and an HDMI connection. Since we don't know which laptop model this is, we have to wait a bit more before getting final details.

Microsoft is now force-installing the latest version of Windows 11, the 25H2, for users of the older 24H2 version of the operating system. Through what Microsoft calls a "machine learning-based intelligent rollout," the company is automatically updating 24H2 users to Windows 11 25H2 when their devices are ready. This forced update is part of a staged update plan for Windows 11, where Microsoft is gradually updating systems worldwide to phase out the 24H2 version, as support for this operating system will officially end on October 13, 2026. It makes sense to upgrade users to an operating system with a longer support period. However, Windows 11 users might be frustrated with the constant forced upgrades that Microsoft is pushing, which seem to offer little real-world benefit beyond regular security maintenance.

Regarding Windows versions, the situation has been a bit confusing recently. Microsoft has dedicated the 26H1 update exclusively for Windows-on-Arm devices, supporting new silicon, including the Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Plus platforms, as well as the potential launch of NVIDIA's N1/N1X laptop SoCs. The latest feature and security updates have been delivered through both the 24H2 and 25H2 versions, which have been the primary focus for x86-based PC systems. However, as support for 24H2 is coming to an end, the focus is gradually shifting to 25H2. There is still time before October of this year, and Microsoft is using AI for a staged rollout. Importantly, users cannot refuse this update. They can only schedule the restart for the update to be applied or postpone it slightly before it is finally installed.

Microsoft's Windows 11 26H1 update, initially expected to offer only new silicon support without a host of new features, is now dedicated exclusively to new and upcoming Arm-based processors like the Snapdragon X2 Elite/Plus. This marks a significant shift in Windows 11's development path—a first divergence in Windows deployment in the recent timeline, and a first for Windows 11. As a result, regular PC users with x86-64 and older Arm-based platforms will continue to use the Windows 11 25H2 as a feature update. According to the latest Windows IT Pro Blog, "Windows 11, version 26H1 is not a feature update for version 25H2," indicating that a different version will serve as the next feature update for Windows 11, rather than the anticipated 26H1.

Microsoft is concentrating on providing full support for the new Windows-on-Arm platforms, some of which are already available. These platforms include Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Elite processors and NVIDIA's N1 and N1x SoCs. This new hardware requires optimization from Microsoft to ensure the best experience on Windows 11, so the company is dedicating most of its efforts for the 26H1 update to this task. Since new silicon requires fine-tuning, such as specific power profiles and hardware optimizations to extract maximum performance, Microsoft is separating Windows 11 into another branch to make sure that servicing and updates are easier, and also that shipping customized power/performance settings doesn't end up corrupting the build for non-Arm CPUs.

Samsung's recently announced Exynos 2600 features an updated Xclipse 960 GPU designed in partnership with AMD, and Samsung claims it will deliver up to twice the GPU performance of the outgoing Xclipse 950 found in the Exynos 2500. Now, benchmarks are finally starting to appear online, revealing surprisingly solid GPU performance. In the limited early testing, it has been found to even keep up with some Arm-powered Windows devices.

In the Geekbench 6 OpenCL test, the Xclipse 960 GPU scored 24,964 points, officially making it the fastest OpenCL result on the Geekbench Browser's Android benchmark list, beating out the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 in the Honor Magic8 Pro by over 1,000 points (23,634). Even compared to full-fat Windows-on-Arm laptops, the Xclipse 960 performs quite well, outpacing the Snapdragon X Elite's Adreno X1-85 GPU in the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x 14 by a decent margin—it scored 20,771 in the same OpenCL test. For a more direct comparison, the Xclipse 950 that preceded the 960 managed 18,509 points in the same OpenCL benchmark.

NVIDIA's long-awaited N1 and N1X laptop chips are set to arrive in the first quarter of this year, according to sources close to DigiTimes. The new roadmap indicates that NVIDIA's latest Windows-on-Arm platform will debut with the N1X chips this quarter, while the regular N1 chips are expected in the second quarter of 2026. After years of speculation, this release could finally position NVIDIA to compete with other Windows-on-Arm platforms like Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Elite and X2 Plus. The N1X and N1 processors were initially expected to debut around CES 2026.

NVIDIA reportedly used its GB10 Superchip—the design powering the DGX Spark—as the blueprint for the N1/N1X. The CPU features 20 Arm v9.2 cores, divided into two clusters of ten, each supported by 16 MB of shared L3 cache (32 MB total), with each core having private L2 storage. The memory subsystem uses a unified LPDDR5X-9400 fabric on a 256-bit bus, supporting up to 128 GB and delivering approximately 301 GB/s of raw bandwidth, although it's unclear if such capacity will be available in consumer laptops. The package is rated at around 140 W TDP and includes PCIe 5.0 for high-speed NVMe SSD connections. For the GPU, N1X variant is rumored to include 6,144 CUDA cores.

ASUS has had a strong presence at CES 2026, presenting updated gaming and creator laptops, including an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395-powered convertible laptop and a new ZenBook Duo with dual 14-inch OLED displays. As it happens, that Intel Panther Lake ZenBook has a Snapdragon-powered sibling as well. The new ASUS ZenBook A16 is a 16-inch Windows-on-Arm PC intended to be used as an everyday general productivity and media consumption laptop. ASUS's goal with the A16 was to design the "best commuter laptop," and balance portability, versatility, and efficiency. The end result is a 1.2 kg laptop that measures just 16.5 mm thick but still boasts 21 hours of battery life from a 70 Wh battery.

The ZenBook A16 will be available with both the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme X2E-92-100 and the X2 Elite Extreme X2E-94-100, both versions with 48 GB of LPDDR5x memory and up to 2 TB of PCIe 4x4 storage. The CPU in the ZenBook A16 aside, there are also a number of interesting features that make the new Arm-powered laptop stand out. For starters, the 3K (2880 x 1800) OLED touch display—there is also an otherwise identical non-touch version—reaches 1100 nits peak brightness and features a 120 Hz refresh rate. The ZenBook A16 is light on ports, though, likely owing to its thin Ceraluminum chassis—which ASUS says is 30% lighter and 3x more durable than regular aluminium. The ZenBook A16 has dual USB4 ports, a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a 3.5 mm combo audio jack. The A16's included chiclet keyboard has 1.3 mm of total travel, and the included trackpad has been stretched to the vertical limit, which has become a trend in modern laptops.

Microsoft has released a new Windows 11 26H1 preview build for Windows Insiders, named Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 28000. Contrary to expectations of significant UI and functionality changes, the upcoming Windows 26H1 update is primarily focused on supporting the latest silicon, likely from Qualcomm and NVIDIA. According to Microsoft on its Windows Blog, "26H1 is not a feature update for version 25H2 and only includes platform changes to support specific silicon. There is no action required from customers." This means that future 26H1 users will receive minor OS improvements and general bug fixes, with no major changes to the system's core.

Microsoft is focusing on providing full support for the new Windows-on-Arm platforms, which are expected to be released soon. These platforms include Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Elite processors and NVIDIA's N1 and N1x SoCs, developed in collaboration with MediaTek. This new hardware requires optimization from Microsoft to ensure the best experience on Windows 11, so the company is dedicating most of the 26H1 work to this effort. It is anticipated that, similar to the 25H2 update, Microsoft will use an enablement package (eKB) to activate new functionality in 26H1. Although there is no confirmation yet on whether 25H2 and 26H1 share the same code base and servicing branch, it is assumed that they do, allowing Microsoft to simply deploy the 26H1 eKB to activate features for the new hardware. The eKB method reduces package size and installation time, making the transition to the new OS version as simple as a reboot.

With the release of the October 2025 cumulative update (KB5066835) for Windows 11 versions 24H2 and 25H2, Microsoft has expanded Prism emulation for Arm64 devices. This update enables Windows to emulate x86 vector instructions such as AVX and AVX2 on Arm PCs. As a result, many apps and games that previously couldn't run on Arm hardware can now at least launch. Intel's AVX is a set of SIMD instructions commonly used by media tools, game engines, and creative applications to speed up tasks like video encoding, physics, and effects. Arm-based chips like Snapdragon do not natively support Intel's proprietary AVX instructions, which often led to failures or poor performance in these programs. Prism's emulation translates AVX instructions, allowing these programs to run on Arm devices. However, because it is emulation, there is additional CPU overhead, and performance will vary significantly depending on the application.

Arm, on the other hand, offers the Scalable Vector Extension (SVE), which enhances vector processing capabilities in the Armv8-A architecture, with SVE2 being its successor in Armv9-A. Unlike traditional SIMD designs with fixed-size vectors, SVE supports flexible vector lengths from 128 to 2048 bits in 128-bit increments. This flexibility allows chip manufacturers to select the vector size that best suits their processors. The main advantage is that programs written for SVE can run on any SVE-compatible processor without recompilation, regardless of the processor's vector size.

Microsoft has published an interesting data point about the usage model of its Windows-on-Arm (WoA) devices. The company's corporate vice president Mike Adams claims that "The Arm app ecosystem continues to expand, with native Arm versions available for apps representing 90% of total user minutes, thus providing efficient, high-performance experiences across the scenarios that matter most to our customers." The Arm-based software ecosystem has matured to the point where the user experience is primarily occurring on native app builds, rather than relying on an x86-to-Arm translation layer. Microsoft is confident enough in this ecosystem's compatibility that it recommends users with older PCs running Windows 10—which will reach its end-of-life on October 14, 2025—consider transitioning to Arm-based Copilot+ AI PCs.

The company showcased various app use cases, all operating on their native build for Windows 11 on Arm. These include endpoint protection applications, VPN and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) apps, endpoint management tools, productivity and creative apps, as well as social, web, and entertainment applications. Microsoft even made a list of compatible applications, which you can check out here. For consumers, the choice of WoA laptops is limited, but we can expect more announcements from Qualcomm and NVIDIA to kickstart more design wins and shipments of Arm-based processors to the general Windows PC users.

We've known since 2023 that NVIDIA is working on an Arm-based notebook SoC, and now we're seeing the first signs of the chip. A processor labelled "NVIDIA N1x" surfaced on the Geekbench 6.2.2 online database, where it scored 3096 points in the single-threaded benchmark, and 18837 points in the multithreaded benchmark. This chip is shown powering an HP-branded prototype notebook, labelled "HP 8EA3," which is running Geekbench on Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS. The processor is identified by Geekbench as having 20 logical processors, which means it has a core-count of 20. This could be a multi-tiered big.LITTLE configuration making up those 20 cores. The clock speed being reported is 2.81 GHz. The company could implement reference Arm cores, such as the Cortex-X925 P-cores, and Cortex A725 E-cores. The HP testbed used for the Geekbench run has a whopping 128 GB of RAM.

NVIDIA has been eyeing a specific slice of the PC pie that's addressed by Qualcomm with its Snapdragon Elite line of processors for Windows-on-Arm notebooks, complete with an NPU accelerating Microsoft Copilot+ on device. The N1x could also compete with Apple's M3 or M4 chips powering its iPad Pro and MacBooks. For now, Microsoft has confined Arm-based Copilot+ to Snapdragon processors, but NVIDIA will probably work with Microsoft to open up this platform to its chips. NVIDIA has been an Arm SoC maker for decades, its first rodeo with Arm-based client-segment SoCs has been under the Tegra brand, powering Android smartphones and tablets. The company has been making Arm CPUs all this while, but for the enterprise segment (eg: Grace CPU).

When Microsoft first introduced the Copilot+ program alongside its renewed push for Windows-on-Arm laptops, the AI-powered assistant features were mostly limited to Snapdragon X-powered devices. In addition to the inclusion of these features on Intel and AMD systems, Microsoft is also announcing Voice Access, a new accessibility feature that will first launch on Qualcomm Snapdragon systems and make their way to Intel- and AMD-powered systems. These new updates come by way of the March 27 Preview update titled KB505365. However, there is still no mention of an AMD and Intel launch for the much maligned Recall feature that Microsoft was testing late last year and recalled due to privacy concerns.

According to the latest Windows Experience Blog post, users of AMD- and Intel-powered PCs will now be able to access features, like Live Captions, Cocreator, Restyle Image, and Image Creator more broadly across the line-up of Copilot+ PCs with Intel Core Ultra 200V and AMD Ryzen AI 300 CPUs. Live Captions is officially pitched as an accessibility feature, meanwhile Restyle Image and Image Creator are AI-powered image editing and generation features, and Cocreator lies somewhere in between as a text-to-image tool that is meant to augment drawing in Paint. Cocreator will be rolling out as of the announcement, and Restyle Image and Image Creator will be available in the Photos app on Intel and AMD systems. As for Voice Access, Microsoft claims that it will allow users to be more flexible with their language when using speech to navigate their PCs, as opposed to "learning complex steps, commands and syntax that voice access previously required" for voice navigation on PC. Voice Access will initially be limited to Snapdragon X PCs, but it will roll out to AMD and Intel Copilot+ PCs later this year.

According to import-export database records obtained by WinFuture, we are informed that Qualcomm is testing an 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite processor designated SC8480XP, representing a 50% increase in core count over the current 12-core Snapdragon X Elite. The silicon, developed under the "Project Glymur" codename, incorporates Oryon V3 architecture in what documentation describes as a "high-TDP" implementation exceeding the current generation's 80 W thermal envelope. Test platforms pair the processor with 48 GB of SK Hynix RAM and 1 TB NVMe storage. Reference documentation suggests integration as a system-in-package (SiP), potentially offering CPU and memory in a unified package, much like Intel's Lunar Lake and Apple M-series processors. Thermal management testing includes configurations with 120 mm AIO cooling solutions typical in desktop applications, though form factor targets remain unspecified.

Whether homogeneous high-performance cores or heterogeneous clusters, core architecture details remain undisclosed. Market positioning appears focused on high-TDP environments, suggesting that this new wave of Arm-based Windows processors plans to fight more aggressively in the AI PC space, which will see even NVIDIA join it in the coming months. Internal documentation potentially references "Snapdragon X2 Ultra Premium" branding, though the final nomenclature remains unconfirmed. Volume availability is not expected until 2026, allowing time for platform optimization and validation. Qualcomm has gathered feedback from its Snapdragon X Elite initial launch and working to improve performance and app compatibility for Windows-on-Arm platforms.

The RPCS3 team has announced the successful implementation of arm64 architecture support for their PlayStation 3 emulator. This development enables the popular emulator to run on a broader range of devices, including Apple Silicon machines, Windows-on-Arm, and even some smaller Arm-based SBC systems like the Raspberry Pi 5. The journey to arm64 support began in late 2021, following the release of Apple's M1 processors, with initial efforts focused on Linux platforms. After overcoming numerous technical hurdles, the development team, led by core developer Nekotekina and graphics specialist kd-11, achieved a working implementation by mid-2024. One of the primary challenges involved adapting the emulator's just-in-time (JIT) compiler for arm64 systems.

The team developed a solution using LLVM's intermediate representation (IR) transformer, which allows the emulator to generate code once for x86-64 and then transform it for arm64 platforms. This approach eliminated the need to maintain separate codebases for different architectures. A particular technical challenge emerged from the difference in memory management between x86 and arm64 systems. While the PlayStation 3 and traditional x86 systems use 4 KB memory pages, modern arm64 platforms typically operate with 16 KB pages. Though this larger page size can improve memory performance in native applications, it presented unique challenges for emulating the PS3's graphics systems, particularly when handling smaller textures and buffers. While the emulator now runs on arm64 devices, performance varies significantly depending on the hardware. Simple applications and homebrew software show promising results, but more demanding commercial games may require substantial computational power beyond what current affordable Arm devices can provide.

Microsoft's Windows-on-Arm (WoA) project has been going through an expansion phase, with the recent range of Snapdragon X SoCs powering many laptops. However, as we are about to get bombed with WoA devices in 2025, Microsoft has prepared an official ISO image of the Windows 11 operating system, available for users to download on the official website. The download size is about 5 GB and requires an Arm-based system to work, as expected. The need for Windows 11 ISO image for WoA comes from the increased number of desktop builds shipped to developers worldwide based on Arm. There are many workstations like the ones offered by ODMs, with an Ampere Altra or Altra Max processor inside.

This is also good news for enthusiasts waiting for the NVIDIA-MediaTek collaboration to drop its first goodies next year, and we expect to see some interesting solutions arise. With Microsoft investing its developer resources into producing Windows 11 Arm builds, it signals that the adoption of Arm-based devices is about to get much higher interest from the consumer standpoint.