Today’s Snapdragon X Elite PCs are in many ways running a “full version of Windows,” but hands-on experience shows they have a lot in common with Chromebooks.
Microsoft likes to talk about its AI-focused Copilot+ PC branding, but these PCs, powered by Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus chips, run Windows for Arm and offer an experience that feels very similar to a Chromebook in many ways.
1. Web apps are often preferred.
Thanks to Prism, Windows 11 on Arm can run most, if not all, existing Windows applications coded for x86. That means most applications will install and “just work.” Prism’s emulation delivers impressive performance, especially for lighter applications, while the Snapdragon X processor delivers fast performance suitable for everyday desktop use.
But there’s one important thing I can’t deny: native Arm apps perform much better, use less power, and all the major web browsers run natively on Windows 11 for Arm. That’s why I’ve found myself using web apps more often.
I use applications like Notion and Trello to run my Windows Intelligence newsletter, and the desktop apps feel a little sluggish on this PC, so I access them in a browser instead. This gives me better performance and longer battery life. Plus, I can turn these web apps into dedicated windows, so they work like desktop apps, just like on a Chromebook.
2. Light workloads are ideal for long battery life.
Some users have been disappointed with the battery life of their Copilot+ PCs. In fact, the battery life is surprisingly short on the first day of setting up your Snapdragon X PC, as you have to run a lot of updates and install a lot of apps. The good news is that the battery life does improve. It starts getting longer right away after you set up your laptop.
The bad news is that the battery life is only good for light workloads like web browsing, email, Microsoft Office, collaboration apps like Slack and Microsoft Teams, and video conferencing.
To really get the long battery life these PCs promise, you’ll need to use light workloads, which fortunately is the range of tasks many users do on a daily basis. But if you tax the CPU with heavy apps, you’ll find that battery life is much shorter than you might expect.
It feels very similar to a Chromebook, which works best when doing light work. Of course, we’re only talking about battery life here. When you need to do heavy work, you can always plug it in without worrying about battery life.
3. Not all Windows applications run.
In fact, when you switch from Windows to Chromebook, you can’t expect all your Windows applications to work on your new laptop. The same goes for switching to Windows on Arm. Sure, most applications will work. But not all of them will.
For example, the Google Drive sync client does not support Windows on Arm, so it cannot be used. Many VPNs and other security applications also do not work. If you need to use your company’s own business apps, they may not run. And while applications may work on Windows on Arm, they may not work properly. This is even more frustrating.
In the first few days after the Copilot+ PC was released, users were installing the x86 version of Adobe Premiere Pro, which was extremely slow. It was still possible to run it, but it was very unusable. Adobe has since blocked it from running on this PC, and has stated that the app may be ported to run natively on Windows for Arm.
Here’s the thing: It’s not like you’re buying a new Windows PC. Just like when you switch to a Chromebook, Linux PC, or any other computing platform, you need to do some research to determine whether your critical applications will run on that platform.
4. Hardware, peripherals, and accessories may not work.
Copilot+ PCs aren’t perfect with hardware compatibility, as many older devices have drivers written specifically for x86 versions of Windows that aren’t intended to run on Arm.
So older printers or scanners may not work properly. Other peripherals connected to the PC may not work either. Microsoft is working on a universal printer driver to improve this situation, but for now, it is a big problem.
Newer devices that are designed to work universally across multiple platforms, like Chromebooks, will work, but older devices that require hardware drivers to work on Windows may not.
5. PC games aren’t perfect
Many PC games should be playable on Copilot+ laptops to some degree thanks to the combination of Snapdragon X’s hardware horsepower, Microsoft’s improved Prism Transformation Layer, and Automatic Super Resolution, a feature that upscales games using the NPU.
But games don’t “just” work the same way as they do on traditional x86 PCs. Many games won’t run at all. Fortnite, one of the most popular games in the world, won’t run on Copilot+ PCs because of anti-cheat features that don’t support Windows on Arm.
Digital storefronts like Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store don’t have a way for developers to distribute Windows games natively for Arm, so most are limited to traditional x86 games that run through Prism, which doesn’t work perfectly.
In some ways, it’s similar to running Steam on a Chromebook. Chromebooks can run a Linux version of Steam that plays Windows games via Valve’s Proton, and Proton works surprisingly well these days thanks to the success of the Linux-based SteamDeck.
Even if you run Steam on a Windows PC, Chromebook, or Steam Deck for Arm, you won’t get the full experience that you can get on a traditional Windows PC with an Intel or AMD CPU. There are layers of compatibility issues that can cause problems. So even if you can play some games in a pinch, I wouldn’t recommend buying a Snapdragon X Elite PC for gaming.
6. Cloud gaming might be enough for now
Microsoft also doesn’t seem entirely confident about native Windows for Arm gaming. If you use Xbox Game Pass, you may be surprised to find that you can run the Xbox app on a Snapdragon X Elite-based PC and there’s no way to install games on your PC.
Yes, on Windows PCs for Arm, the Xbox app actually pushes Xbox cloud games. That’s it. That may change in the future, but for now, that’s it. And Chromebooks can also access Xbox cloud games, although they can’t play the base games.
7. Most AI functions are web-based
If you look at the ads, Microsoft wants everyone to believe that the future is about AI PCs with powerful NPUs that can run all kinds of AI functions out of the box, but the first-generation Copilot+ PCs don’t deliver on that promise.
In fact, Windows doesn’t yet include many AI features that work offline. Microsoft’s Copilot chatbot still requires an internet connection, it’s just a web app pinned to the taskbar, and PC integration features (like “turn on dark mode”) have been removed.
In addition, any AI image editing features powered by NPUs will need to connect to Microsoft’s online service to check the “AI safety” of the images generated. Ultimately, the basic experience isn’t much different from using various AI features in a Chromebook’s web browser.
8. It’s a far cry from traditional Windows PCs.
As always, Microsoft is working hard to ensure backward compatibility with Copilot+ PCs. Many existing Windows applications simply work, which is surprising and noteworthy when they don’t.
Not only should you do some research to ensure that the necessary software and hardware will run on these PCs, but application developers will also ideally want to ensure that their applications run as well as possible on these PCs.
This is a huge philosophical shift in the Windows experience, and a big part of why using Windows on a Snapdragon PC feels like using a Chromebook, a Linux PC, or an Android tablet.
It’s not just a tweaked Windows PC, it’s a completely different computing platform. It looks like Windows and is compatible with Windows software, but Windows for Arm is very different from the traditional x86 Windows. It’s completely different.
And that’s okay. It’s impressive. Even if you don’t use a Copilot+ PC yourself, Intel has at least ignited a race to push x86 to new limits. Intel has made big strides with its Luna Lake hardware, which is due out later this year. That’s a win-win for everyone, whether you want an Arm-based Windows PC or not.
9. Good competition for everyone
As Chrome OS spread into the mainstream, PC manufacturers had a viable Windows alternative to worry about. Microsoft had no choice but to compete, and that competition benefited everyone.
Likewise, the latest Arm chips give Microsoft and PC makers an alternative to traditional Intel and AMD CPUs. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and Snapdragon X Plus are just the first chips, with more Arm hardware to follow from other companies.
So Intel and AMD CPUs have to compete with them, and we’re already seeing the results with Intel’s upcoming Luna Lake hardware and AMD’s imminent Strix Point hardware.
10. Copilot+ PC is not for everyone
The future of PC hardware looks bright, and Windows on Arm will only get better. It’s still early days, and no one can fully predict where this will all lead in five, ten, or twenty years.
But for now, a Snapdragon X Elite-based Windows PC isn’t the right choice for everyone. While it might be perfect for some use cases, it might not be the right choice for others. In that sense, it’s a lot like a Chromebook, which is a very specific choice for very specific needs.
editor@itworld.co.kr
Source: www.itworld.co.kr
