• CriticalMiss@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    My company bought 5 snapdragon laptops to test - ended up returning all of them. They’re not bad per se, the operating system that they’re expected to run is. Windows for ARM has a looong way before it is production ready. Their biggest hurdle is the translation layer (similar to Rosetta 2 which works near flawlessly) that is so bad that if your program doesn’t have a native ARM build, you’re better off not even bothering. I’ve seen an article indicating that they improved it a lot in the current Windows insider build but we’ve already returned the laptops and switched over to AMD. In my opinion if Microsoft truly cares about Windows on ARM then it will be ready in a year or so. If they don’t… probably 2-3.

    As per Linux, it works great, but that’s because most of the packages are FOSS and so compiling them for ARM doesn’t take a lot of effort. Sadly, Security at our company insists we run Windows so that spyware antivirus software can be installed on all end user machines.

  • NOT_RICK@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Sounds like sour grapes, which is pretty much the only thing of note coming out of Intel lately

    • grue@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Ironically, their new GPUs are supposedly actually pretty decent. It’s like Bizarro-world over there, LOL!

      • Lojcs@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        Their CPUs would also be decent if they only made low end parts

      • TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Decent only if you look at raw performance for the price compared to other MSRPs.

        When you scratch beneath the surface a little and see what they’re having to do to keep up with the 3 year old low end Nvidia and AMD parts (that are due to be replaced very soon), it paints a less rosy picture. They’re on a newer, more expensive node, use a fair bit more power, and have a larger die size by quite a bit than their AMD/Nvidia counterparts.

        Add to that Intel doesn’t get the discounts from TSMC that Nvidia and AMD get, and I’m doubtful Battlemage is profitable for Intel (this potentially explains why availability has been so poor - they don’t want to sell too many).

        While it’s true the average buyer won’t care about the bulk of that, it does mean Intel is limited in what they can do when Nvidia and AMD release their next generation of stuff within the next few months.

        • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          If I can get one I’m buying one. I think their performance/cost ratio is excellent, and will probably make NVidia and AMD bring down their mid-range card prices.

          But I’m not forgetting who made the prices come down. I’m all in on supporting a new player in the GPU game, and the 5060 would have to make me grow new teeth or something to get me to give Nvidia money over Intel at this point.

    • jj4211@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      This sounds pretty plausible. The windows user is the least likely to understand the implications of arm for their applications in the ecosystem that is the least likely to accommodate any change. Microsoft likes to hedge their bets but generally does not have a reason to prefer arm over x86, their revenue opportunity is the same either way. Application vendors not particularly motivated yet because there’s low market share and no reason to expect windows on x86 to go anywhere.

      Just like last time around, windows and x86 are inextricably tied together. Windows is built on decades of backwards compatibility in a closed source world and ARM is anathema to x86 windows application compatibility.

      Apple forced processor architecture changes because they wanted them, but Microsoft doesn’t have the motive.

      This has next to nothing to do with the technical qualities of the processor, but it’s just such a crappy ecosystem to try to break into on its own terms.

  • pyre@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    I know this isn’t about that but whenever I read a headline about Intel I’m reminded to be thankful for having these fucks as the only thing that could challenge the GPU duopoly. very encouraging.

  • LavenderDay3544@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Legacy software and games mean that ARM PCs will never be anything more than a niche curiosity.

    The ISA wars are long over, and x86 won time and time again.

    • john89@lemmy.ca
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      7 months ago

      I disagree. Legacy software and games can run through translation layers. We already do that with windows software on Linux.

      Maintained software doesn’t really have an excuse not to support ARM, unless the developers are woefully incompetent/lazy/personally biased against supporting it.

      • rottingleaf@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        We already do that with windows software on Linux.

        Translating syscalls and translating opcodes (especially efficiently) are different things.

        And we don’t.

        But yes, this is possible and Windows for ARM includes such a translation layer. Except it’s not very good yet.

        In some sense ARM everywhere is a nightmare. There’s no standard like EFI or OpenFirmware for ARM PCs.

        I hope that changes.

        • john89@lemmy.ca
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          7 months ago

          Discord has gotten way too big for its own good and only focuses on getting people to subscribe to nitro.

          There is no excuse for them, just plain greed and laziness.

      • jj4211@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        The thing is, for the Windows ecosystem, ARM doesn’t have a good “hook”.

        When tablets scared the crap out of Intel and Microsoft back in the Windows 7 days, we saw two things happen.

        You had Intel try to get some android market share, and fail miserably. Because the Android architecture was built around ARM and anything else was doomed to be crappier for those applications.

        You had Microsoft push for Windows on ARM, and it failed miserably. Because the windows architecture was built around x86 and everything else is crappier for those applications.

        Both x86 and windows live specifically because together they target a market that is desperate to maintain application compatibility for as much software without big discontinuities in compatibility over time. A transition to ARM scares that target market enough to make it a non starter unless Microsoft was going to force it, and they aren’t going to.

        Software has plenty of reason not to bother with windows on arm support because virtually no one has those devices. That would mean extra work without apparent demand.

        ARM is perfectly capable, but the windows market is too janky to be swayed by technical capabilities.