Last Month, at Build 2018 Microsoft’s annual developer conference, the company officially introduced the ARM64 SDK that allows developers to port their app to the native 64-bit app. And today, VLC becomes one of first ARM64 Windows application. VLC officially introduced the native ARM64 app for Windows 10 devices.
Unlike Windows 10 on Intel and ARM processors, Windows 10 ARM runs on Qualcomm processor which is often used for the mobile and tablet devices. So of course, performance is the biggest concern here. So the optimal solution for the developer is to recompile the existing app and bring support for ARM64. And instead of publishing the app in Windows Store they can offer it directly from their website.
Honestly, Microsoft has a really bad history with new application development platform. Microsoft has just failed to attract the attention of app developers to persuade them to build apps for the Windows platform whether it is for Mobile or PC. Even the Universal Windows Platform attempt hasn’t been very successful in gaining the attention of developers.
Of course, Microsoft is working very hard to encourage developers to bring their app to the platform. They introduced Windows Desktop Bridge, Project Astoria, Project Islandwood and more. The latest ARM64 SDK is just incredible. Developers won’t have to edit or rewrite the entire app again, they just have to recompile the app.
However, Microsoft just released the SDK for Windows 10 ARM64 don’t expect that all the popular win32 app developer port their app instantly. But VLC becomes one of the first ARM64 Windows apps. We’ll soon see more dedicated native ARM64 application in upcoming months.
Meanwhile, you can go ahead and download the VLC for ARM64 device from here, make sure you select the ARM64 from drop down. And let us know your experience in a comment below.
Microsoft is fully committed to Universal Windows Platform and Windows 10 on ARM. Qualcomm at Computex this week announced new processor for Windows 10 ARM devices, and Samsung is also working on Always Connected PC. So far the project has received mixed reactions but it’s likely to improve in the coming months.
