14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft and Qualcomm announced in late 2016 a new project called Windows 10 ARM that brings the full version of the operating system on ARM chips, with the two companies showing the x86 version of Adobe Photoshop running on a Snapdragon 820 processor.
And although at first glance it looked like apps had to be published in the Windows Store, and thus ported with the Project Islandwood set of tools and validated by Microsoft, it appears that Windows 10 on ARM devices will be capable of running x86 apps just like the full version of Windows 10.
This means that you should be able to download and install software on the desktop from any location, without them having to be published in the Store. In other words, you get the full functionality of Windows 10, with no limitation in this regard whatsoever.
No developer updates needed
A demo that Microsoft showed at Build presented a Windows 10 on ARM system downloading and installing a file compression tool from an online source, other than the Windows Store, with Microsoft engineers explaining that absolutely no developer changes are needed for this to happen.
The first devices running Windows 10 on ARM chips are expected to launch later this year, and they will be powered by Snapdragon 835, the most recent Qualcomm processor that’s already available on the Samsung Galaxy S8.
This also fuels rumors that Microsoft is close to finalizing development of the Surface Phone, an eagerly-anticipated smartphone that could mark the transition from Windows 10 Mobile to Windows 10 on ARM, thus addressing the lack of apps by opening the door to Win32 software.
The Surface Phone is yet to receive a confirmation from Microsoft, but in the meantime, the Windows 10 on ARM project advances at full speed and Redmond seems to be very keen on making it a key part of its strategy.