Microsoft has released Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27744 on Canary Channel. This release introduces a new feature update to Prism, which will allow more 64-bit x86 applications to run under emulation.

The update adds several x86 CPU instructions to the x86 emulator in Windows on ARMincluding AVX and AVX2, BMI, FMA, F16C and others. The new support for CPU features in Prism is already used in the retail version of Windows 11, version 24H2, to run Adobe Premiere Pro 25 on ARM. This release extends this support to any x64 application under emulation, but not to older 32-bit x86-only applications. 32-bit or 64-bit applications that use a 32-bit helper to detect processor feature support will not be able to detect new Prism features.

The update also comes with other changes and improvements. For example, the gamepad keyboard layout for the on-screen keyboard will be added back during deployment. after being removed during the last update. This likely means Microsoft was able to fix the gamepad issues. There are plenty of other minor details in this Insider build, but the main addition was the emulation improvements. Hopefully this will roll out to all ARM Windows PCs soon.

Most PC applications are still written for PCs with x86 processors, which is why many applications and games must be emulated on Windows PCs with ARM chips. This comes at the cost of performance and occasional compatibility issues. Microsoft has been pushing application developers to create ARM-native software, but the emulator will remain an important component of ARM Windows for years to come. It’s great to see that Microsoft is I’m still improving itbut if you need perfect compatibility with all PC software, you will still need a computer with an Intel or AMD x86 processor.

Source: Windows