A little over a year ago, I got my hands on a Snapdragon Dev Kit for Windows powered by Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon X Elite CPU, and that inspired me to share my first impressions of Windows on ARM. Back then, the platform felt polished but had a few quirks. Now, after a full year of daily use, here’s how it’s held up.

A year ago, I was curious whether this emerging platform could hold up in day-to-day use, particularly in tech-heavy environments like software development and data science – for example, creating and running AI models. While the platform felt polished, there were some limitations: hardcore gaming required more than the integrated Adreno GPU, nested virtualization in Hyper-V wasn’t supported, and a few apps were unavailable for ARM, requiring emulation.

In that initial post, I also mentioned that native Linux support was just around the corner. I had fully intended to replace Windows 11 entirely with Linux shortly afterward as my daily driver. Fast forward a year, and I’m still using the same device with Windows 11, including the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2), because native Linux support for the platform has been slower to arrive than I expected.

So, how was my experience?

One of the most surprising things about using Windows on ARM for the past year is how uneventful the experience has been – and I mean that in the best possible way. The system has been stable, reliable, and responsive. Windows updates have rolled out regularly, and I haven’t hit any major compatibility issues in daily use. Everything feels normal, and insanely fast. Even after a year, I’m still amazed by how quick this machine is.

The Windows-on-ARM ecosystem has matured dramatically. Nearly all mainstream apps and development tools now offer native ARM builds, including Ollama for running AI models. Even many of the smaller, niche utilities I’ve experimented with this year have been optimized for ARM. While a few holdouts remain, the built-in x86 emulation provided by the Prism component has filled the gaps with near-native performance. For software development, I haven’t faced any compatibility issues, even when working with complex stacks or containerized workflows. The entire experience has been remarkably seamless.

Limitations?

Let’s talk about gaming first: simply put, this isn’t a platform designed for gamers. The Adreno GPU in the Snapdragon Elite X wasn’t designed to run modern high-end games. If gaming is a priority, look elsewhere – this isn’t the right tool for the job.

As for nested virtualization, which allows you to run virtual machines (VMs) inside other VMs, it still isn’t supported in Hyper-V. This limitation can be a deal-breaker for certain use cases, especially in environments that rely on complex VM setups, such as our college IT courses.

That being said, one of our IT students recently ran into an interesting challenge. She accidentally purchased a Snapdragon-based Windows laptop without realizing that our program’s minimum hardware requirements specifically call for Intel or AMD CPUs due to the need for nested virtualization in Hyper-V. Normally, that would have prevented her from completing her coursework. However, instead of returning the system right away, she took a creative approach: she used uupdump.net to build a Windows Server 2025 ISO for ARM and ran it as a native VM on her system (not nested inside Hyper-V). The results were impressive! Performance on the Snapdragon X Elite was excellent, even with minimal RAM allocated to the VM. She successfully completed all her lab work and final project before eventually purchasing an Intel-based PC for the remainder of the program.

What’s next for Windows on ARM?

In the laptop market, the combination of strong performance and long battery life has driven widespread adoption of Windows 11 on ARM devices. Recently, Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon X2 Elite, slated for release in 2026, which pushes the platform even further. The new chip nearly doubles AI processing power and features a significantly upgraded GPU capable of supporting high-end gaming. As for nested virtualization support, that remains uncertain because Qualcomm has yet to comment on it.

After a year of daily use, I can confidently say that Snapdragon-powered Windows on ARM devices are an excellent choice for most users who rely on productivity apps, cloud services, web-based platforms, or even development environments. Performance is outstanding, and the overall ecosystem feels mature and reliable. However, if you’re a gamer or require nested virtualization, it’s worth waiting until next year’s release of the Snapdragon X2 Elite and seeing how it performs in reviews.