Microsoft and Qualcomm first announced Windows on Arm in 2016, and it’s been a slow ride since then. It wasn’t until last year with Windows 11 that it was actually for x64 emulation, finally adding the application support you need to get the same experience between Arm and Intel PCs. Now, Microsoft is announcing another milestone, the Arm-original toolkit for Windows, including the ARM64 version of Visual Studio 2022.
That’s not all, because while progress in software has been slow, so has progress in hardware. Microsoft announces Project Volterra, a new Snapdragon-powered developer fund that helps developers explore AI scenarios.
The original developer tools series
As stated in the title, Microsoft has already begun to take Windows development very seriously. In fact, when the platform was first launched, it was some time before there was an ARM64 SDK suitable for developers, other than UWP applications, which are usually compiled for all supported platforms.
But now, you’ll get the full development package on Arm, which means not only a native version of Visual Studio 2022, but things like .NET 6, classic .NET Framework, Windows Terminal, VC++m, and more. The company says it’s working on Open JDK, Python, LL VM, Node, and Git support. Microsoft says first previews will be available in the coming weeks, and that includes Visual Studio 2022.
Volterra project
Project Volterra is a new Snapdragon-powered developer box that Microsoft surprisingly doesn’t say much about. At least for now, there is no information about its specifications, when it will come, or how much it will cost.
What Microsoft said is that it’s designed for developers to “explore many AI scenarios” using the Qualcomm Neural Processing SDK, also announced today. In fact, the plan is to build support for neural processing units in Windows.
There’s also a new cross-platform development platform for building AI apps called Hyvrid Loop, which will run through Onnx Runtime and Azure ML. Microsoft has indicated that Project Volterra has a neural processing unit, so it would be nice to use the Hybrid Loop pattern.
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