I saw my first ARM-based Windows laptop yesterday!

[mikeymikec]

A Samsung Galaxy Go laptop with a Snapdragon processor in.

Shame it was likely faulty and had to go back to the supplier One BSOD and one LiveKernelEvent suggesting memory corruption, and the thing was only a day or two old, it seemed silly to do anything else with it. The ARM version of Win10 seemingly doesn't have the Windows Memory Diagnostic program on it, so I couldn't do more to confirm my suspicion.

Still, it was interesting to see an ARM Windows laptop out in the wild.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Remember the "CVS $99 Netbook"? That was my first ARM Windows Laptop.

It was functional (barely), but it sucked so bad that I picked up a real budget (x86 Windows) laptop as well (on vaca).

 

[GodisanAtheist]

"WinTel" is going to take a long, long time to die cause its just got so much damn inertia behind it.

ARM based laptops also tend to be a solution in search of a problem, IMO. Got my daughter a hella basic 13" $300 Acer laptop for all the remote classes/online courses/online tutoring etc she has done over the last year and I have to say I'm impressed.

A) Looks like a remarkably upscale laptop with a nice brushed aluminum finish on the back screen cover.

B) Excellent battery life. My kid isn't the best at plugging the laptop in when using it or remembering to actually shut it down after she's done using it and we've yet to encounter a dead laptop situation between days of use. Granted, a outlet has never been too far away, but really when you're doing actual work you need a laptop for when isn't an outlet too far away?

C) 1080p screen, built in webcam and mic that do the job (you have people arguing about how a $1500 Acer laptop doesn't need one, while the $300 kit is coming with it), plenty of RAM and a built in SSD drive keeps things feeling snappy despite the 3200U processor inside. Came with Windows "S" which could be unlocked to full fledged windows in but a handful of clicks.

D) Remarkably durable. My kid is relatively respectful of her stuff, but she is also still a kid. Thing has done a year with trips to and from other pod parent's houses on the daily and is still trucking.

I'm not sure what bringing ARM into this equation would actually end up solving.

 

[mikeymikec]

The customer got a replacement laptop and out of curiosity I ran cpu-z's benchmark on it. 8 cores = score of ~150! single core = 88 (IIRC the Athlon II X2 240 beats both figures). Whatever that benchmark does in x86 instructions, this ARM processor sucks at it

Wow, Samsung's marketing department is really taking the mickey with this laptop ("Samsung Galaxy Go"):

Compare Samsung Galaxybooks Laptop Specs | Samsung US

Compare all the features and specs of the range of Galaxy Books. There is one laptop that meets your work of fun needs.

www.samsung.com

"Massive 14" screen"
"Memory: 4GB + 128GB" (the latter obv. being the SSD, the former is not upgradeable)
It also came with Win10 S mode, not Home (I sorted that)
It claims it runs without a fan but I'm pretty sure I heard one. No doubt their weasel speak means "when it's idle the fan doesn't run", well bully for you and every other current-gen laptop processor!

Also, it can do x86 instructions but not AMD64.

It really pees me off seeing brand new laptops with 4GB non-upgradeable RAM.

 

[Commodus]

And folks wonder why there are worries about Windows' future when this is the current state of Windows on ARM!

Apple only sells premium laptops, but it runs rings around the Surface Pro X, let alone budget machines like the Galaxy Book Go. (Let's put it this way: translated x86 apps run faster on a MacBook Air than native ARM apps do on the Surface). Hope for Microsoft's sake that it can dramatically improve Windows on ARM, because Apple might just walk away with a large part of the laptop market if the status quo continues.

 

[pete6032]

Hope for Microsoft's sake that it can dramatically improve Windows on ARM, because Apple might just walk away with a large part of the laptop market if the status quo continues.

I don't think they will ever be able to given the fact that Windows is an open ecosystem so any manufacturer can build a device to run Windows. Apple's closed ecosystem is great for ensuring chips like M1 can be optimized on their devices.

 

[Commodus]

I don't think they will ever be able to given the fact that Windows is an open ecosystem so any manufacturer can build a device to run Windows. Apple's closed ecosystem is great for ensuring chips like M1 can be optimized on their devices.

They might not reach Apple's level, but I do think they can do better. Microsoft needs to stop treating ARM like a throwaway architecture; Qualcomm needs to design chips primarily with PCs in mind, not just tweak an existing mobile Snapdragon chip once every two or three years.

As I like to put it: Apple dominates certain categories (smartwatches, tablets, and increasingly ARM-based PCs) simply because it's the only one that consistently shows up. Microsoft and Qualcomm are the college kids who skip half the classes and wonder why they fare so poorly in tests; Apple is the keener who attends every class without fail and aces the exams.

 

[Oyeve]

Hope for Microsoft's sake that it can dramatically improve Windows on ARM, because Apple might just walk away with a large part of the laptop market if the status quo continues.

Folks have been saying this for decades and it hasn't even come close to fruition.

 

[mikeymikec]

It seems silly to me to attempt to do things exactly the same as your competitor, that seems like a great way to always be a johnny-come-lately. I wonder if MS investing in a CPU manufacturer in some way might be the better choice.

 

[Commodus]

Folks have been saying this for decades and it hasn't even come close to fruition.

Mind you, we also haven't been in this position before. Apple was always dependent on someone else's chips, and it now appears to have an unambiguous performance edge over its main CPU rival. It's not as dependent on third-party software as it was even several years ago; it also has tight cross-device integration that wasn't present for much of its history.

And to be clear, when I say "large" I don't mean the majority, or even large double digits. But there is a risk that Apple will claim much of the high-end space, and custom chips would make it easier for Apple to dip into the mid-range, too. I could see Apple reintroducing the base MacBook at a lower price (and with a new design) as the range matures.

The concern, I would say, is that Apple might get enough clout that it (along with Google) starts reframing the market in favor of ARM-based computers, and Microsoft isn't there to meet that challenge. You probably won't see an iPhone- or iPad-style event where Microsoft is knocked completely off its feet, but the last thing it wants is to have its rivals claim 'safe' slices of the market for themselves — Google at the low end and Apple at the high end. Windows' advantage has long been that it's often a solid choice in just about every category... if it loses that, it loses something symbolic, not just sales numbers.