14 DAY TRIAL // The Snapdragon 835, which is also powering Samsung’s Galaxy S8 smartphone, is the first processor that will support Windows 10 on ARM, a new project announced by Microsoft and Qualcomm in late 2016.
Using new emulation technology, the two companies managed to bring the full version of Windows 10 on ARM chips, and a demo revealed last year showed Adobe Photoshop running on a Snapdragon 820 chip powered by the HP Elite X3.
The Snapdragon 835, however, will be the first processor reaching mass-production as the foundation of Windows 10 on ARM laptops, Qualcomm has confirmed. As the company CEO recently announced, the first devices are projected to see daylight later this year, most likely in October or November, with sales to begin just before the holiday season.
The Samsung Galaxy S8
As far as the Galaxy S8 is concerned, the Snapdragon 835 chip that is powering it is powerful enough to run Windows 10 as well, but it’s unlikely to see the phone actually running Microsoft’s operating system.
While this could appeal to many hardcore Windows phone fans, the only way to run full Windows 10 on the Samsung Galaxy S8 will be the DeX feature that allows the smartphone to turn into a PC when connected to a bigger screen. DeX works in a similar way to Microsoft’s own Continuum introduced on the Lumia 950, allowing the phone to emulate a desktop-like interface with the help of a dedicated adapter and a bigger screen.
Samsung, however, has pushed DeX well beyond the limits of Continuum, and using virtualization technology, the Galaxy S8 can actually run full Windows 10, though the whole processing takes place on a different system. This is, however, a way to get around the limitations of full Windows 10 that would certainly appeal to many buyers, especially because the Snapdragon 835 chip is powerful enough to deal with very demanding tasks.
Microsoft itself seems to like what Samsung is doing with this new smartphone and its PC emulation technology, so the company is selling the Galaxy S8 in its own stores itself. Because, after all, who wants to buy Windows phones these days anyway, right?