Tech media has been recently abuzz with exposure of limitations of Windows 10 on ARM. This exposure came via Microsoft’s official documentation and mow, Microsoft has tried to do damage-control by editing the documents and removing any references to Windows 10 on ARM limitations.

If you follow this link you won’t find the limitations listed anymore though the link (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/porting/apps-on-arm-limitations) still mentions limitations in the URL. But worry not as we could find the cached document and here are all the limitations of Windows 10 on ARM.

Windows 10 on ARM limitations:

  • Only ARM64 drivers are supported. As with all architectures, kernel-mode drivers, User-Mode Driver Framework (UMDF) drivers, and print drivers must be compiled to match the architecture of the OS. While ARM OS has the capabilities to emulate x86 user-mode apps, drivers implemented for other architectures (such as x64 or x86) are not currently emulated and thus not supported on this platform. Any app that works with its own custom driver would need to be ported to ARM64. In limited scenarios, the app may run as x86 under emulation but the driver portion of the app must be ported to ARM64. For more info about compiling your driver for ARM64, see Building ARM64 Drivers with the WDK.
  • x64 apps are not supported. Windows 10 on ARM does not support emulation of x64 apps.
  • Certain games don’t work. Games and apps that use a version of OpenGL later than 1.1 or that require hardware-accelerated OpenGL don’t work. In addition, games that rely on “anti-cheat” drivers are not supported on this platform.
  • Apps that customize the Windows experience may not work correctly. Native OS components cannot load non-native components. Examples of apps that commonly do this include some input method editors (IMEs), assistive technologies, and cloud storage apps. IMEs and assistive technologies often to hook into the input stack for much of their app functionality. Cloud storage apps commonly use shell extensions (for example, icons in Explorer and additions to right-click menus); their shell extensions may fail, and if the failure is not handled gracefully, the app itself may not work at all.
  • Apps that assume that all ARM-based devices are running a mobile version of Windows may not work correctly. Apps that make this assumption may appear in the wrong orientation, present unexpected UI layout or rendering, or failing to start altogether when they attempt to invoke mobile-only APIs without first testing the contract availability.
  • The Windows Hypervisor Platform is not supported on ARM. Running any virtual machines using Hyper-V on an ARM device will not work.

So, seems Windows 10 on ARM has still some way to go before it can touch normal Windows 10 versions in terms of app support and functionality.

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