Qualcomm Snapdragon Chips will support Windows 10 starting next year
Qualcomm has teamed up with Windows to provide a way to run Windows 10 x86 (32-bit) on ARM-architecture processors such as those found in smartphones of the past couple of years. With next generation ARM CPUs, Windows would be able to run on Qualcomm CPUs with full compatibility.
At WinHEC today, both companies showed off the capability of the emulation by demoing the full-desktop version of Adobe Photoshop running (though emulated) on a Snapdragon CPU running Widows 10 64-bit edition.
This is not the first time Windows would be able to run on ARM devices, though the first attempt was less than successful. ARM-based Windows programs were not synonymous with the traditional 32-bit programs. This means developers had to rewrite their applications for compatibility with the ARM-based OS called Windows RT at the time.
New chips will need to be made for this type of compatibility, due to lack of standardization of the CPUs at this point in time. Qualcomm’s compatibility with Windows 10 will be thanks to the emulation of the x86 architecture that is needed for CPUs to run desktop-class applications.
Though, the emulation part raises some eyebrows, mobile processors have greatly improved in efficiency and thermal performance. It will be interesting to see the first Qualcomm chip to run x86 Windows 10. If successful, the supposed Microsoft Surface Phone could be a huge hit with fans of the Windows ecosystem for both work and play.
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