Windows 11 Insider Preview Brings Key Improvements for ARM PCs

Thursday, 07 November 2024 at 14:45

Windows on ARM has been taking bold steps recently, especially with the launch of powerful Snapdragon chipsets. However, it still has some areas of improvement and gaming certainly is among them. For example, Windows on ARM still lacks compatibility with x86-based apps and games. Microsoft is running to improve this and is rolling out a new Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27744. It features an updated Prism emulator for ARM PCs bringing support for additional CPU extensions, including AVX, AVX2, BMI, FMA, and F16C. In other words, apps like Adobe Premiere Pro 2025 and gaming titles like Starfield and Helldivers 2 will now work on ARM PCs.

New Windows 11 Insider Preview Will Improve Games' Compatibility with ARM PCs

Windows devices featuring ARM chips like those equipped with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus SoCs will be able to run more legacy apps and games that don't have native ARM64 versions. Besides the new updated Prism emulator, the new Insider Preview Build brings a new on-screen gamepad keyboard. It allows you to navigate and type in Windows 11. The feature is a great addition for gaming handhelds and touchscreen devices.

The update also gives users the ability to detach hard disks from the Settings App. There are also improvements to the Task Manager and other minor bug fixes.

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27744 changelog:

General

We fixed the issue causing some Insiders with PCs that have older NVIDIA GPUs (like the GTX 970, Quadro K620, etc.) to experience issues where their displays appear stuck at a black screen and unresponsive or seeing their GPUs showing errors in Device Manager and not working correctly.

Input

Fixed an underlying issue causing the Emoji Panel and Clipboard History to not open on certain surfaces anymore, including in Registry Editor.
Fixed an underlying issue that could lead to clipboard history not displaying items you’d copied.

Windows Sandbox

Fixed an issue impacting the performance of Windows Sandbox for some Insiders after the latest updates.

Graphics

Fixed an which could lead the dynamic refresh rate to get stuck at 60Hz on the first boot.

Other

Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with the error PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA starting in Build 27723.
Fixed an issue causing the remote desktop connection (mstsc.exe) to crash in the previous flight.
Fixed a msmpeg2vdec.dll-related issue in the last couple of flights which was Lome apps crashing.
Fixed an issue where rotation info about JPGs couldn’t be queried via APIs (for example, via PowerShell).
Fixed an underlying issue that was causing the Get-WindowsCapability command to get into a state sometimes where it would fail unexpectedly until rebooting your PC.
Fixed an issue causing mica to not work correctly when using a slideshow for your desktop background.
Fixed an issue that could lead to certain apps not detecting a scanner, although one was connected.