Microsoft Teams: This New Windows 10 On Arm Version Means Speed Boost For Some PCs

With a refreshed line-up of Windows 10 on Arm Surface Pro X now out, Microsoft has released a native Arm64 version of its popular Teams collaboration app. 

Microsoft Teams was one of the new native Arm64 apps Microsoft announced at the Surface Pro X launch this month, along with Arm64 versions of the Chromium-based Edge browser and Visual Studio Code (VS Code). The apps are optimized for the platform and are faster and use less battery than emulated apps compiled for Intel chips. 

The new Arm64 Teams app has been quietly announced by Microsoft senior product manager Bill Weidenborner in a LinkedIn post. Microsoft announced the Arm64 version of Teams was "coming soon" last month at its Ignite 2020 conference.  

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As a native Arm64 app, the new Teams version runs on the Surface Pro X without any emulation as x86 apps do. And, via Windows Central, users on Reddit report that it's "way more stable" than the 32-bit x86 version of Teams.   

Just ahead of the Surface Pro X launch, Microsoft announced that Windows on Arm will be able to run x64 apps with x64 emulation, which is coming to Windows Insiders in test builds in November. It's not clear when Microsoft will make x64 emulation generally available on Windows 10 on Arm. 

Windows on Arm, of course, natively supports Arm apps, including Arm64 versions like the Teams app. But until now it only supported 32-bit Intel (x86) apps via emulation, while 64-bit only apps couldn't run on Windows on Arm devices due to the lack of x64 emulation. 

Microsoft is also working to ensure that existing apps will work with Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Apps on Arm 64 via the company's App Assure program.

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Additionally, it's working with teams at Acer, HP, Lenovo, Samsung and Surface to bring Windows 10 on Arm innovations and products to its partners' customers. 

The Surface Pro X with the new SQ2 processor co-designed by Microsoft and Qualcomm is available for $1,499 for the Windows on Arm Home edition. It comes with 16GB or RAM and 256GB of storage. The Surface Pro X same specs and Windows on Arm Pro costs $1,599.

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