Windows on ARM Still Has a Long Way to Go

• ARM-based devices aspire to offer a good balance of price and performance.
• Qualcomm-based Windows on ARM PCs have not met the price/performance promises made at launch and instead come with high cost and limited compatibility.
• Windows 11 is available on ARM, but the company’s commitment remains in question.
• Windows Server does not support ARM processors, having conceded the ARM server space to Linux on AWS Graviton processors.

The goal of ARM-based computing devices has long been to deliver a good trade-off of price and performance by offering enough performance to meet customer expectations, with lower power and cooling requirements than a comparable Intel-based device. However, the complexities in running Windows on ARM are significant, and the current attempt comes with many limitations, while Intel-based devices are actively supported and may be less complex to use and support simply due to their ubiquity. Organizations should proceed carefully with Windows on ARM and understand the limitations of the platform before ARM-based devices are purchased.