Tag: Windows for Arm

Windows for ARM

Last year we announced limited support of Win2PDF for the next generation of Windows for Arm devices, which is Microsoft’s response to the growing popularity of lightweight, mobile friendly computers like the Apple MacBooks.

Now we’re back with an update featuring recent developments in this area.

First, let’s look at what’s new with Microsoft and Windows for Arm?

Microsoft Copilot

A little over a year ago, Microsoft introduced Microsoft Copilot, an AI assistant built into Microsoft 365 apps and Windows that uses large language models to help with writing, editing, and analyzing content across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. It summarizes documents and emails, generates formulas and analyzes data, drafts replies and suggests follow-up actions, and even creates images.

Currently, most of these AI tasks are handled in the cloud because of the intensive processing required. While this is efficient in terms of performance, it comes at the expense of security risk and user control.

Copilot+ PCs

Now, Microsoft has announced a new class of computers called Copilot+ PCs that continue to expand the use of AI on the local hardware. The first batch of these new PCs, from PC manufacturers like HP, Acer, Lenovo, Samsung, and Dell, as well as Microsoft’s own Surface Laptops, feature a new Arm-based neural processing unit (NPU) powered by Snapdragon® X Series chips. Microsoft’s Satya Nadella talks about these Copilot+ PCs and how they align with Microsoft’s vision in this Wall Street Journal interview:

Essentially, Copilot+ PCs will bring AI processing closer to the “edge”– the local PC. With its ability to do more complex tasks at a greater speed and with less power, this finally positions Windows PCs on an even footing with Macbooks in the mobile computing market.

Win2PDF & Support for Windows for ARM

Will Win2PDF work on ARM based Copilot+ PCs just like existing PCs?

YES.

Many software applications can support ARM by simply emulating the Intel instruction set on Windows for ARM processors. While the compatibility (and performance) of existing applications under emulation is great, there is no emulation layer for print drivers like Win2PDF. These drivers still must be developed separately for ARM-based PCs, and many other printer-based products do not currently support them.

The new Win2PDF release will include a new printer driver for ARM based PCs. The setup program will automatically detect ARM based PCs and will install the correct version of the printer driver. As far as the end-user is concerned this will be completely transparent; there is no difference in how Win2PDF will install or work on the new PCs.

The History of Win2PDF OS and Hardware Support

How does Win2PDF fit into this new mobile landscape? Let’s look at our history.

Win2PDF was initially developed in 2000 for PCs running on x86 (Intel & AMD) chips on Windows NT. Since the introduction, we’ve continued to support new versions of Windows (Windows 2000, Vista, 7, 8, 10, 11) and new processor architectures.

With our upcoming releases, we’ll not only support Windows XP through Windows 11, but we’ll also support x86, x64, and ARM64 architectures. There are very few PDF software developers that still support this continuum of operating systems and architectures. Companies standardizing on Win2PDF will be able to use the same version of Win2PDF across the organization.

Stay tuned

Over the next several months you’ll see new release updates to Win2PDF that will continue to support this next generation of Copilot+ PCs.