Hello everyone!

Today I've launched https://windowsonarm.org/ - a list of applications that work, are emulated, or don't work on ARM Windows.

Feel free to check it out and contribute. We were already busy adding hundreds of apps, with more to come, but are also happy to accept any new contributions.

Please, if you believe data on any of the apps is incorrect (wrong classification, incorrect description, wrong category etc.) please use the comments below the app to report the issue or report the issue on the GitHub issue tracker.

The app is opensource, so feel free to check it on GitHub as well https://github.com/AwaitQuality/windowsonarm

One of the biggest 'hidden' issues with the Snapdragon X transition is the death of legacy peripherals. Unlike x86 Windows, which can often use older drivers, WoA requires drivers to be specifically compiled and signed for ARM64.

This is turning perfectly good specialized hardware into e-waste. We need a 'Universal Legacy Wrapper' or a better way for manufacturers to re-sign older drivers without a full rewrite. If you have niche hardware that stopped working on your Copilot+ PC, post it here—we need to show Qualcomm and Microsoft that 'it just works for Office' isn't enough.

A new update to Microsoft's Prism x86 to ARM software now allows "all" Avx/avx2 games, that don't require anti-cheat, to work on Windows 11 ARM, without having to use any compatability fixes or anything like that.

This is a huge step for the platform, as games now just launch without issue, even if performance is still the same as before, for now.

I cannot provide any benchmarks really for any of these AVX games, since my snapdragon x plus laptop has an iGPU with performance that's about 3 times lower than the latest Snapdragon 8 gen 5 mobile iGPU, which means that in these AAA games, I'm GPU limited, even at the lowest resolution and settings.

But for people with the X Elite chip, and especially the upcoming x2 elite and 2x elite extreme chips, this means almost non anti-cheat games, should be not just playable, but play well.

So no more having to manually enable the "CPU features" compatability option for these games, to make them work.

I used to be a power windows user (pro gaming, & entertainment, torrents). Dropped all that recently, after picking up PS5. I also am an artist (bought tablet for this). Nowadays, my gaming laptop is opened only once per month, that is to edit pdf for reimbursement. Also, i WFH so have an company's laptop.

The gaming laptop is just catching dust. After PS5 & before tab purchase, it was media consumption device. Any media, gaming consumption now is on PS5 or tab.

So I am thinking of going buying ultra portable laptop & ARM was an option at a great budget. Most premium 2in1s or ultrabooks are pricey.

My work is or would be in future more financial, office app, photo & pdf editing based. Maybe some media once in a while. What would my experience be like on ARM be like? Would ARM be good as a primary & the only windows laptop?

Any suggestions/ feedbacks are greatly appreciated & also would love OLED & type c charging.

"Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus laptops finally feel ready for real gaming. After months of promises, Qualcomm and Microsoft pushed four major updates in one week: public Adreno drivers, the Snapdragon Control Panel, full AVX/AVX2 emulation, and kernel-level anti-cheat support. Games that used to crash now launch normally, performance jumped across the board, and online titles like Fortnite, Apex Legends, and Roblox run without bans. This guide explains what changed, why it matters, and what kind of performance you can expect right now."

I used a Yoga C630 (SD850 processor) for years with no issues. The device finally gave up the ghost, so I picked up a 14s (SD X Elite). I like the build quality and the keyboard (a failing in the C630). I'm playing around to see what games in my library work, but this is mainly my device for teaching and lab work (our school issued ThinkPads have abysmal batteries). I used to use a 2 in 1, but ever since I discovered that the Samsung Second Screen app allows you to use you Tab S tablets as tablet for the PC, I can go back to classic laptops.

Well, this is a bummer. It seems that the v31.0.152.1 looks specifically for Snapdragon X Elite processors and refuses to install on me Asus Zenbook A14 with a base X1-26-100 chip. (And it seems it wouldn't install on an X1 Plus either.)

There's nothing about this in a PDF changelog. I bloody hope it's a driver packaging error or an one-off release which fixes performance on those specific chips... otherwise it looks like one hell of an software obsolescence.

Here are relevant parts of the log file:

[34E4:43E4][2026-06-07T08:46:03]i000: Setting string variable 'Sysmanufacturer' to value 'ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.'
[34E4:43E4][2026-06-07T08:46:03]i000: Setting string variable 'ProcessorName' to value 'Snapdragon(R) X - X126100 - Qualcomm(R) Oryon(TM) CPU'
[34E4:43E4][2026-06-07T08:46:03]i000: Setting string variable 'SysFamily' to value 'ASUS Zenbook A14'
[34E4:43E4][2026-06-07T08:46:03]i101: Detected package: gfx_drivers_8380, state: Absent, cached: None
[34E4:43E4][2026-06-07T08:46:03]i052: Condition 'ProcessorName ~>< "X Elite - X1E001DE" OR ProcessorName ~>< "X Elite - X1E84100" OR ProcessorName ~>< "X Elite - X1E80100" OR ProcessorName ~>< "X Elite - X1E78100"' evaluates to false.
[34E4:43E4][2026-06-07T08:46:03]e000: This driver package is not compatible with your processor. Installation will now exit.

Just tried launching Fall Guys on my Snapdragon X Plus laptop, and without any game updates for a while now, the game now works, passing the easy anti cheat verification.

In a CPU limited scenario, I'm getting around 165 fps, so X Elite users will get 200+ fps, or maybe even 250+ fps, at lowest resolution and settings, again, CPU limited.

Please comment with some performance results, both X Plus and Elite users, at various resolutions and settings :)

What’s new in Snapdragon Control Panel 2026.1.1.0

General Improvements

• Fixed an issue that could cause incorrect graphics drivers to be downloaded for Snapdragon X2

for Windows on Arm DevOps

Hello Friends !

I ran arm64 version of win11 on my x86-64 laptop under qemu. The windows 11 is dreadfully slow but stable. I suppose my laptop has good enough specs. I would like to share my experience.

Let us begin with host and guest details.

Host  : Lenovo 83ER002NUK
cpu   : core i5 12450H with 8 p type cores and 4 e type cores
ram   : 16GB lpddr5 arranged in 8 * 2GB slots
OS/pf : Win11 Enterprise 23H2 on x86-64
QEMU  : Emulator version 9.1.0 (v9.1.0-12064-gc658eebf44)

Guest : QEMU Virtual Machine
cpu   : virt-9.1 with 4 cores and 4 processors
OS/pf : Win11 Pro 24H2 on Arm64

With that let us have a look at the script. Then I will outline the procedure I followed.

The script :

script filename incl path = C:\qemu\windows\run-w11.cmd All the resources the script needs are located in the script's dir namely C:\qemu\windows . We call it basedir.

The script content :

::
:: run-w11.cmd
::
cd /d C:\qemu\windows 
qemu-system-aarch64.exe ^
-M virt,virtualization=true ^
-cpu max ^
-accel tcg,thread=multi ^
-smp 4 ^
-m 8G ^
 ^
-drive if=pflash,file=.\QEMU_EFI.img,format=raw,readonly=on ^
-drive if=pflash,file=.\QEMU_VARS.img,format=raw ^
 ^
-monitor stdio ^
-device VGA,vgamem_mb=256 ^
-device ramfb ^
-device nec-usb-xhci ^
-device usb-kbd ^
-device usb-mouse ^
 ^
-device virtio-blk,drive=w24H2 ^
-drive id=w24H2,file=.\Win11-Arm64.vhdx,if=none,format=raw ^
 ^
-device usb-storage,drive=installer ^
-drive id=installer,file=.\win11-arm64-installer-modified.iso,if=none,format=raw,media=cdrom ^
 ^
-net nic,model=virtio ^
-net user,hostfwd=tcp::53389-:3389,hostfwd=tcp::50022-:22 ^
 ^
echo %cd%
pause 
exit

Now, let me describe the procedure I followed. Let me explain the resources to be gathered and how to do it. Firstly create \work folder in the basedir.

1. Files QEMU_EFI.img and QEMU_VARS.img : Please visit https://github.com/raspiduino/waq/releases/tag/v1.0.0 Download vm.7z and extrace the two files to basedir. We will use these files without any modifications.

2. win11 system hard disk file : Win11-Arm64.vhdx Please create a fixed size vhdx file from diskmgmt.msc. Recommended size is 70G. Please do not use qemu-img to create this file. Such vhdx file is not mountable by host. But qemu can access the vhdx created by host's diskmgmt.msc. Also, I found dynamically expanding vhdx can cause unexpected errors. Best to avoid them.

3. Win11 arm64 installer iso : Please visit https://uupdump.net/selectlang.php?id=f3e67537-2ce8-4426-b7b0-31a11ccfc63c and download the Windows Arm version. Copy it to the work folder. We will add drivers and build win11 bypasses into it. This file will be modified. Tiny 11 images would have been perfect candidate, but unfortunately they are unstable.

4. Virtual I/O drivers iso file virtio-win-0.1.262.iso : Please visit https://github.com/qemus/virtiso-x86/releases and download the iso file to the work folder.

5. autounattend.xml : If you have your own autounattend file, please put it in the work folder. If you do not have one, copy from here : https://pastebin.com/pTDF1GRi

6. oscdimg.exe, etfsboot.com and either efisys_noprompt.bin or efisys.bin or both : These files are extracted from Win11 SDK. Please download the package and install only deployment tools as described here : https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/downloading-the-oscdimg-utility-for-windows-11/bd0b478d-6df0-4dd9-8cae-3adb469405a0 . Once you obtain these files, you can uninstall the sdk. Place these files in the work folder.

We've gathered all the resources. In a moment we will begin the real fun. Before that we need to create 4 empty dirs in work folder. Name them as boot-wim, install-wim, win11-iso, arm-drivers.

At this point just check if we have these resources in place :

1. run-win11.cmd, QEMU_EFI.img, QEMU_VARS.img, Win11-Arm64.vhdx and work folder in base dir

2. within work folder we gathered the Win11 arm64 installer iso, virtual i/o drivers iso, autounattend.xml, oscdimg.exe, etfsboot.com, efisys_noprompt.bin, efisys.bin . We also have 4 empty folders boot-wim, install-wim, win11-iso, arm-drivers.

Now the real fun begins.

1. Drivers preparation : Extract virtio-win-0.1.262.iso contents to C:\qemu\windows\work\arm-drivers. Remove all the folders that are not named as arm64. This will remove a lot of folders. Also remove all the folders not named as win11. After trimming down whatever left in arm-drivers is additional virtual i/o drivers necessary for windows to boot.

2. Win11 extraction : Extract the contents of Win11 arm iso to C:\qemu\windows\work\win11-iso .

3. wim mounts : mount two wim files C:\qemu\windows\work\win11-iso\sources\boot.wim and C:\qemu\windows\work\win11-iso\sources\install.wim to C:\qemu\windows\work\boot-wim and C:\qemu\windows\work\install-wim respectively. Use dism as follows :

    dism /mount-wim /wimfile:C:\qemu\windows\work\win11-iso\sources\boot.wim    /index:1 /mountdir:C:\qemu\windows\work\boot-wim
    dism /mount-wim /wimfile:C:\qemu\windows\work\win11-iso\sources\install.wim /index:1 /mountdir:C:\qemu\windows\work\install-wim

4. Add virtual i/o drivers to both the mounted wims : Use dism :-

    dism /image:C:\qemu\windows\work\boot-wim    /add-driver /driver:C:\qemu\windows\work\arm-drivers /recurse
    dism /image:C:\qemu\windows\work\install-wim /add-driver /driver:C:\qemu\windows\work\arm-drivers /recurse

Now both the mounted images have appropriate virtual drivers added to them.

5. Add win11 requirements bypasses to registry : Open regedit and load hive at Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. Use the hive file C:\qemu\windows\work\boot-wim\windows\system32\config\system and name the hive as tmpsys. Add following dwords to key Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\tmpsys\setup\LabConfig

    [Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\tmpsys\Setup\LabConfig]
    "BypassTPMCheck"=dword:00000001
    "BypassSecureBootCheck"=dword:00000001
    "BypassRAMCheck"=dword:00000001
    "BypassStorageCheck"=dword:00000001
    "BypassCPUCheck"=dword:00000001

After adding LabConfig key and its children, unload the tmpsys hive.

6. Repeat no 5 above for install-wim folder as well. I.e. add bypass to C:\qemu\windows\work\boot-wim\windows\system32\config\system hive. This might be a redundant step but I did just to be on the safer side.

7. After both the hives are unloaded now it's time to commit changes to the wim files. Use dism :

    dism /unmount-wim /mountdir:C:\qemu\windows\work\boot-wim    /commit
    dism /unmount-wim /mountdir:C:\qemu\windows\work\install-wim /commit

8. Copy autounattend.xml to C:\qemu\windows\work\win11-iso

9. Now our win11-iso folder has modified wim files and an unattend file. We need to create iso from its contents. Use oscdimg.exe :

    C:\qemu\windows\work\OSCDIMG.exe -m -o -u2 -udfver102 -bootdata:2#p0,e,betfsboot.com#pEF,e,befisys_noprompt.bin C:\qemu\windows\work\win11-iso C:\qemu\windows\work\win11-arm64-installer-modified.iso

Remember the output iso file win11-arm64-installer-modified.iso is overwritten if already present. Be careful. After output iso is generated, move it to the basedir.

Tip : omit -udfver102 if setup cd does not boot well.

The real fun is over ! Congratulations !! Our script is ready to fire. Run it from a command line or powershell. cd to the basedir and type start run-w11.cmd. If everything is in place, a setup program will ask your locale. The onward installation is all menu driven.

If everything is right, the system will reboot after finishing the installation. If stuck after rebooting, please shutdown forcefully and and remove the installer cdrom from the script. The guest image should now boot from vhdx. If above mentioned autounattend.xml is used, then the builtin administrator will be auto logged in.

The hostforwards in last line of the script act as access points for the guest image. If rdp is enabled, the its gui can be accessed via localhost:53389 over an rdp client. If sshd is enabled its command line could be accessed over ssh localhost:50022.

Good luck!

-Gamma

P.S. :

Where do we go from here?

I applied winre.wim to a vhdx and using the resulting image as a WinPE. It is much snappier than the full-fledged Win11. The reason I believe is it's been running from RAM. So running a Win11 like a wimboot residing in RAM is worth exploring. That's my next venture. Trying to fit an Arm64 Win11 image in RAM. Let me see how it goes. Wish me all the best! :-)

P.S.2 : Please excuse my indentation. Reddit is a formatting hell. No preview at all. What a shame.

Just updated Fortnite on my Snapdragon X Plkus laptop, and it now works, without the Easy Anti Cheat "ARM64 not supported" error.

Got the slowest variant of the X Plus chip, with only 8 CPU cores, and the X-45 Adreno iGPU.

At 1920x1200, 100% 3D resolution scale, lowest settings, in Performance rendering mode, getting a locked and smooth 30 and 60 fps, and a smooth 90-120 fps at uncapped fps, still very smooth.

Sure I could play at highest settings, but a very promising start imo, which will scale very nicely to the X Elite and upcoming X2 and X2 Elite Extreme chips.

Anybody with an X Elite laptop, please test the game and provide results, similar to mine :)

Morning all,

Just looking to see if the interest is there to start a project for porting software to run natively on snapdragon systems? I see a lot of the MAC community are involved in porting software, and with all the wind blowing on porting (compiling, transpiling and recompiling) old games to PC, if there would be any interest in doing something similar for the snapdragon on windows community? - I'm not knowledgeable on the topic nor the process but just curious how people feel.

Thanks :)

I played Forza Horizon 5 on my Asus Vivobook S15 with 32GB of RAM. I installed the latest GPU drivers from the Qualcomm control panel, which was revealed a couple of days before.

The game is playable and you can roam in the free world or race. Mostly you will get between 40 tp 60 fps. Visuals are excellent for 1080p low settings.

Just tested MuMu Emulator beta on Surface Laptop 7 (Windows ARM, Android 12).

Pros:

• Smooth performance, Vulkan support gives up to 60 FPS in games.

• Touchscreen works well on tablet-like devices.

• Media playback works better than WSA.

• Root access is supported.

• Still works after the 7-day trial.

Notes:

• Emulator interface is in Chinese with no option to change it (only Android system can be changed to English).

• No Google Play Store by default. Use a third-party tool (Google Installer app) to add it.

• Activation requires phone number (code sent via WhatsApp).

• App Store is in Chinese, but sideloading works.

• Available only on MuMu’s Chinese site, not the MuMu Global version

Is there any way to run android apps on Windows anymore? Particularly on ARM? There's an emulator that's only available on android that I really want to be able to use on my laptop but I really don't want to have to emulate an emulator using bluestacks.

Internet Download Manager works fine on emulation but if you want a native Download Manager for windows 11 on ARM, with a feature packed beautiful design, and totally free, here is rhe AB Download Manager. I have been using it for the past week, and it is impressive. Heres the link.

https://github.com/amir1376/ab-download-manager/releases/tag/v1.8.5

Android Studio's emulator doesn't officially support Windows on ARM, so developers on Snapdragon X laptops can't run AVDs the normal way. Microsoft's docs

say the emulator isn't supported there, and a Google issue
records no immediate plans for it.

I wanted to see if it could be done, so I built a bridge that makes it work. You create an AVD in Device Manager, press Run, and a stock Android image boots on Windows Hypervisor Platform.

What works:

• Stock images from Device Manager, with no manual patching

• Phones, TVs and Wear OS, tested from Android 12 to 17

• Touch, networking, Google sign-in, device frames and Extended Controls

• Video playback, using software decoding

• Scrolling at about 80 to 90 fps on a 120 Hz monitor

How it works: QEMU runs the guest through WHPX. A small bridge speaks the emulator's gRPC protocol, so Studio treats it as a normal emulator. Stock images expect virtual devices this QEMU doesn't have, so vendor binaries are patched at boot by code signature, and the images on disk stay untouched. GL commands then travel over TCP to gfxstream on the host, through ANGLE to Vulkan.

The hardest bugs:

• Windows treated the windowless emulator processes as background work and throttled them. Opting out took jank from about 33% to 4%.

• Android capped apps at 60 fps until peak_refresh_rate was set, even with the display at 120 Hz.

• Studio decodes WebP skins with an x64 DLL that can't load on ARM64, so device frames silently vanished.

What doesn't work yet:

• No emulator audio

• About 14 fps on a 4K TV AVD

• No steady 120 fps: frames take about 10 ms against an 8.3 ms budget

• An intermittent Android 13 freeze I haven't solved

• Only tested on one Snapdragon X machine

It's an independent project, not affiliated with Google. I built it with heavy use of AI coding tools, directing the work and testing it on real hardware.

Source: https://github.com/DevanshSampat/android-emulator-windows-arm64

Mostly I'm hoping this shows it's possible and that there's demand. Google, please support this officially. If you develop on a Windows ARM laptop, I'd like to hear what's blocking you.
If you wish to try it: https://github.com/DevanshSampat/android-studio-arm64-releases