Windows 11 24H2 is available for Copilot+ PCs, such as the Surface Pro 11th edition and other products with Snapdragon X processors. In addition to all general improvements, Windows 11 24H2 has several ARM-related changes, including an improved version of the emulation engine called “Prism” and better support for peripherals.
Prism Emulation Engine
Most popular are available in x86 and x64 only, which means they cannot be installed natively on PCs with Arm64. While Snapdragon X PCs are not designed for gaming, Microsoft has upgraded its emulation engine, which is now up to 20% faster and allows you to play all popular games.
As a result, the emulation engine Prism engine can easily convert the existing game code to the Arm64 instruction set with minimal impact on performance.
Developers don’t need to do much, as Prism handles all the heavy lifting while delivering decent performance. Microsoft has also posted video clips of Baldur’s Gate 3 running on a Copilot+ PC with the latest Snapdragon X Elite chip, DirectX 11, and Prism.
Windows Latest previously observed similar performance when playing Baldur’s Gate 3 and other games.
It is important to understand the games can be played on ARM PCs, but don’t expect these Copilot+ PCs to be gaming-centric laptops. The performance of up to 30-60 FPS is still applaudable, given that they run via an emulation engine and an on-board GPU.
Some games also support Auto SR, an AI upscaling feature that brings better visuals without compromising performance.
Microsoft plans to release Copilot+ PCs with dedicated GPUs from NVIDIA and AMD.
Collaboration with Anti-Cheat Providers
Most popular multiplayer titles like Fortnite use an anti-cheat service to curb the cheating menace.
Microsoft’s collaboration with Denuvo Anti-Cheat, BattlEye and Wellbia XIGNCODE3 / UNCHEATER ensures their games are supported on Copilot+ PCs. Note that these games won’t launch until the anti-cheat service is available and active, so collaboration was necessary.
According to the official post, Copilot+ PCs support over 1,400 popular games, with 1200 titles capable of running at 30+ FPS on the new machines.
You can visit the official website that tracks all the games available for Windows on Arm to check if your favorite games are on the list.
Printer and peripheral support
Can you use your printer and other peripherals on your Snapdragon X PC? The answer is yes.
According to a support document first spotted by Windows Latest, Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 11 Arm-based PCs support all Morpia-certified printers. You don’t need to worry much because 120 million printers support this standard.
Peripherals should also work without issues, provided their drivers are present in Windows 11 or supplied by the manufacturers. However, manufacturers must release the Arm64 version of the product drivers.
Windows 11 24H2 has many AI features baked into the OS, such as AI Super Resolution. However, the Copilot+ PC users will have to wait for Windows Recall because Microsoft decided to test it some more before it becomes widely available.
