# ARM vs. x86



## nerv11 (Sep 2, 2009)

I'm just wondering if anyone could share some more details on some of the differences that will divide future tablets/laptops with W8 running on ARM and x86 CPUs.
Intel is apparently working on very efficient CPUs, but ARM seems to be able to hold-out in the battery-life department still longer. Program compatibility might be a problem on ARM though...what kind of programs would have difficulty? Something simple skype, firefox, etc... Or solely more advanced programs like avid, photoshop, office, etc...
Want to expand my knowledge on this.

Thanks.


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## VirGnarus (Jun 28, 2010)

Microsoft: No Windows 8 ARM support for x86 apps ? The Register


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## cluberti (Aug 26, 2010)

Correct - no x86 apps written for Intel will install on an ARM machine. Microsoft has been pushing .NET for awhile, and with Windows 8 is also pushing this with the Metro/WinRT angle as well. Applications written in .NET 2.x languages and higher should recompile fairly easily for ARM, and applications written for WinRT/Metro should work on both x86 and ARM natively. "Native" apps written in old .NET 1.x languages and native languages (C/C++, VB, etc) would need potentially extensive recompilation for ARM to work, and any apps using undocumented features of the Win32 API might need more to become compliant - I don't see too many vendors recompiling older apps though. Probably going to be mostly new apps or new app versions for apps that will run on both Win8 ARM and x86. It will be interesting to see if ARM will run non-Metro applications at all, other than the inbox apps that run on the "desktop" that will be likely to still ship on ARM.


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