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Microsoft plans to bring x86 emulation to ARM

by on22 November 2016


It will be in Windows 10 in 2017

Microsoft will be rolling out x86 emulation for ARM processors in the Redstone 3 upgrade of Windows 10 late next year.

Although the idea has been talked about for a while, ZDNet is certain that Vole is definitely making it happen.

Microsoft wants Continuum, which allows Windows 10 Mobile devices to connect to external displays and keyboards, to be an important part of the company’s business plan. All this has been triggered by the fact that users can only run Universal Windows Platform (UWP), and not fully-fledged x86 apps.

If an ARM64-based device could run x86 apps via emulation worked like the Windows on Windows emulator, which allows 32-bit apps to run on 64-bit Windows, Windows 10 Mobile Continuum would be a lot more useful to business users who need certain Win32/line-of-business apps.

A reference to this project to put "Windows's hybrid x86-on-ARM64 tech" has a name "CHPE." ZDNet thinks that that "C" in this stands for "Cobalt," which is the codename for x86 emulation on ARM. The HP letters are probably none other than the maker of expensive printer ink which has been working increasingly closely with Microsoft on its Windows 10 PCs and the HP Elite x3 Windows Phone. The E could be for emulation.

HP has made it clear that its enterprise users of its Elite x3 who wanted to run x86 apps via Continuum already had remote-desktop capabilities, enabled them to access their x86/line-of-business apps.

It has reworked its HP Workspace visualization service so that it targeted smaller business customers who didn't have x86 app access but lacked corporate remote-desktop access to be able to tap into their x86 apps.

If Vole showed up with a solid emulation capability included in the operating system there would be no need for these sorts of virtualization services.

The "Cobalt" x86 emulation on ARM is currently on the list of features that Microsoft is planning to make part of "Redstone 3," the version of Windows 10 that sources have said will be available in the Fall of 2017.

It could be a coincidence that the date lines up with the launch of Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 830 which will have the kind of virtualization capabilities that a robust emulator in Windows 10 would require.

This could also explain the rumours about a Surface Phone arriving in late 2017 or 2018 for business users. This dollop of secret sauce might be what Vole has been waiting for.

Last modified on 22 November 2016
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