Windows for ARM still isn't near ready for serious use by mainstream serious users. Not even all of Windows is ARM Ready (see how many emulation processes are running just in base Windows and programs included with Windows), Not all Browsers are ready for Arm, Many UWP applications are not ready for ARM, MOST applications are not ready for ARM, Not even all of M365 and associated apps are even fully ARM ready. Many drivers are not offered for ARM. There is little or no image backup choices available for ARM. And there are still power issues as long as any emulation is going on, and currently available processors are just no up to the speed of Intel or AMD. Still lost more glitches (especially DRM related) and hangs over normal Windows as well. I try ARM every couple of years but progress is glacial and has a long way to go before I'd use it as an only machine.

what about the new business 10 vs the 9? My 9 which I am typing on this now really just does not feel that great anymore and I want it to improve 3D modeling and feel like it will make a huge difference using my Epu and new intel chip. What do you think?

Couldn't agree more. I was enthusiastic about the Pro X SQ1 for the first year or two, but at this point I couldn't wait to get off the disaster that was Windows on ARM for all of the reasons you state and more. Plus, even if emulation does improve with the Pro 10... if you're running 99% of your content in emulation (because there are for all intents and purposes, practically zero ARM64-native apps), then what is even the point? It's not like Mac where Apple can actually convince developers to port things over.

A basic logic is: if windows on arm really is to be as good as x86, why does Microsoft still equip Intel processors for the business models?

My experience with Windows 11 arm has been considerable better than yours, and I not sure why. I've been using a Windows Dev Kit 2023 for over 14 months and is now my daily driver. It's basically a Surface Pro 9 with the SQ3 / Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 processor in a box, but with 32GB RAM and 512GB NVMe SSD. It replaced my Intel i7 8th gen NUC with Intel Iris Plus graphics, and outperforms that device, and is also silent, as I have rarely heard the fan run, expect when I stressed it running the arm version of Cinebench 2024, and even then, it was quiet compared to all my Intel laptops and PCs. As it's a desktop, I always set it for best performance. I purchased to experience what it would be like running with a Windows 11 arm PC, having recently bought an M2 MacBook Pro. Over that time, the graphics drivers have improved, and I am running the latest Nov 23 driver from Qualcomm. The latest graphics compatibility pack now includes support for Vulkan, in addition to OpenGL and OpenCL. I have no issues with the performance of KZfaq or experience any lag, but I do make sure I use Microsoft Edge arm version and not Chrome, because current stable version is x64, and runs in x32 bit emulation. Google are about release a Chrome Windows arm version, and I installed its beta release yesterday, and that feels much snappy compared with the x64 version. x64 emulation has improved, because I have run Ableton 11 Intro with no issues, though I suspect 3rd party plugins would be problematic. I agree drivers can be challenging. I have HP Color LaserJet printer and scanner. HP Smart doesn't always find the printer driver, but Windows setup does, and hands over to HP Smart when the install finished, thereafter everything works fine, such as Document scanning, or using the printer web interface to update printer firmware. I use WSL2 Linux and WS for Android and they perform well and include support hardware accelerated graphics support. I have found a number of retro game emulators, that have windows arm versions such as, AthersSX2 (PS2), Dolphin (Game Cube & Wii), Duckstation (PS1), PPSSPP (psp), and DOSBox-X and work as well as the x64 versions on an Intel / AMD PC. A PC with the SQ3 processor is never going to be a great gaming machine all the time it has to run them via x64 emulation, but I have Steam installed, Batman Arkham City works well. I have Genshin Impact installed and that plays fine on low settings. Many Indie Games, I have tried also work OK. I run the Windows arm version of Minecraft which runs great, but I understand there is an issue with the Java version, which is frustrating, because there is an arm Java launcher for Apple Silicon, and Microsoft have released lots of arm versions of developer tools including arm versions of Java 11, 17 and 21 OpenJDK and Visual Studio 2022 for arm. I plan to buy a Surface Pro 10 with Snapdragon X Elite processor later this year on the strength of my experience to date. Of course, it won't be perfect on day one, but recent efforts by Microsoft and Qualcomm make me feel it will improve over time, and I think the new generation of arm processors with transform Windows 11 mobile devices in the same way that Apple Silicon has done for Mac OS.

Virtually none of the issues mentioned affect me. I don't have time for any gaming (and I don't think I am alone, plus if I wanted I have a desktop with an RTX 2070 super and a Surface Book 3 15" and I have never player a single game on them). I use printers with airprint which work with mobile devices so no need for drivers. What I want is a snappy device with great battery life that can run Office, Chrome and my work software and even my M1 Parallels with Windows on Arm can do it well with an additional virtualization layer... I also hope that a smaller surface to replace my go 2 M3 will come at some point. The huge issue so far has been, as you said, glorified phone chips in these laptops, none of which can even match the 2020 M1. This time should be different.

The State of Cbutters mic. Nice video though :D

For a Wintel experience steer clear of ARM. It ain't there yet. It's never gonna be the relatively transparent switch that it has been for Apple users - for all the obvious reasons. Windows for ARM on the RPi is surprisingly good but that's 'cos your expectations are very very low. I'm amazed it even works! Kudos to the WOR team.

A surface laptop running on new I3 processors would be more practical if you are looking for battery life.

Sorry, but I have a SQ1 and have to say it is very useful for what I want. And yes it is very practical. I don´t use printers, but I when I used it to print I did not have any problem. Rule number ONE: when you get a Surface on Arm, do not play emulated games. Please!!! Use case: productivity apps li Office and web. For that it is light and has a good battery. Thanks for your opinion and review

Having the og pro x I can say that I HAD to buy a x86 laptop to run drivers and other apps since the emulation is a joke. Printers don't work. Serial adapter's won't work. Dotnet does not work properly on arm forcing you to install the x64 version instead do unless Microsoft fixes windows for arm it's dead

I looked at the specs of the CPU and shook my head. Windows is too heavy for most Arm CPUs. It took many generations of Qualcomm SD 8 CPU to be able to power Android on 4K display and that's not even a full desktop on Samsung Dex. Try Desktop mode on Edge and open 10 tabs. You'd run out of RAM on the Galaxy Z Fold 5. So unless SD Elite X significantly up the sustained TDP and the Surface X2 has 32GB of DDR5 ram, it's not going to be able to run heavy apps like Outlook, multiple Onedrive syncing hundreds of thousands of files, Edge with many tabs etc. I've had great battery life on the Asus ROG X13 2022. Set to low power, iGPU only + battery saver and I have full day battery. The laptop is responsive enough and I find that Outlook and OneDrive draw a huge amount of power. Edge uses less but I wouldn't use Outlook on Edge. I need to be able to drag and drop files across multiple email windows to coordinate projects. So basically, I'm not likely to buy an Intel or Arm based laptop in the next 2 years, especially if AMD Strix Point & Strix Point Halo is as powerful as rumoured especially when those also include powerful RDNA3 GPU & NPU.

lol can you see if you can install ableton lite, i think it's free

SNAPDRAGON X Elite ❤❤

Snapdragon X ❤ Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6

lmaooo that was so sad

But wow what a terrible sound of your mic.

surface phone should be just x86_64 too. The reason i bought multiple surface pros are exactly because of x86. no more arm nonsense

Based on your own usages and needs that you described, you're almost the worst person on the planet to buy and use a Windows on ARM device. Each device has its own customer and its own usage, and I think that the "WRONG" thing here, is you yourself... . Actually not you yourself, but your needs and your usage. Where I'm living, people that buy Surface Pro devices do not try to install Steam because they even don't know what is Steam at all! Their main need is Office and multimedia apps. But I must say that even for those people that I'm referring to, the incompatibility with devices like printers is really a dead end. However, honestly I don't like Surface Pro 9 with SQ3 too, and my reason is only one thing: Price $ When you're selling a stripped down device in terms of "functionality" you must not sell it with this price. But c'mon guys, it's Microsoft, not a charity... Let me tell you what is the good version of Windows on ARM: A plastic body tablet with a HD or FullHD (maximum) display which doesn't cost much for production. If Pro 9 SQ3 costs about $200 I might think about it. But with $1000 I'll never give Intel option up for this junk (based on my USAGE which is apparently similar to yours dear Cameron). But the problem is that the chip itself is expensive, it's actually a chip that is used in flagship expensive mobile phones and tablets. Android tablets with such powerful ARM chips are good examples. Just as a reminder: My opinion about MacBook is the exact same. MacBook for me and for my usages is considered as a stripped down device, so I'll never pay more than $200 for a MacBook even if it features RTX 4090 inside of it! If I want to spend $1000 for a device, a Windows device is the only thing that I think about...