What you need to know
- A preview version of Vivaldi optimized for Windows 11 on Arm is now available.
- The build is in early testing and may still have some serious issues, but its existence indicates that Vivaldi is working on a version of its browser optimized for Arm processors.
- Several other browsers have been optimized for Windows 11 on Arm recently, including Google Chrome and Brave.
- Windows 11 on Arm is expected to see a surge in interest in 2024, thanks in large part to the upcoming launch of Qualcomm's Snapdragon X Elite processor later this year.
Those with a PC powered by an Arm processor will soon have another browser to use. Vivaldi announced a preview version of its browser optimized for ARM64 architecture earlier this week. Once stable and generally available, the optimized version of Vivaldi will deliver better performance and efficiency on devices like upcoming Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6.
Vivaldi shared a few details about the Arm version of its browser:
"As an extra bonus we also include Windows arm64 “architecture preview” packages for those of you with suitable hardware. These builds are not yet part of our automated test system and have only been lightly tested on one piece of hardware. Serious issues may exist and should be expected. Nonetheless, any testing and feedback would be greatly appreciated! 😉"
As the Arm version of Vivaldi is in its early days, you can expect bugs and other issues. But by the time Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors start shipping in PCs, you may have a stable version of Vivaldi as an optimized option.
Browsing on Windows 11 on Arm
The number of options for web browsing on Windows on Arm continues to grow. While not an exhaustive list, a website called ArmRepo lists programs that have been optimized for ARM architecture. Within the web browsers section of that site you see big names, including Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave, and Chromium. Now, there's a preview version of Vivaldi to go along with those other browsers.
Windows 11 on Arm PCs can run non-native apps, but performance and efficiency are lower than running native apps. That may not be as much of an issue for systems running Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors. Qualcomm claimed that emulated games will run "just fine" on Snapdragon X Elite-powered PCs. Presumably, non-native browsers would also work well. But native performance is best, so Vivaldi hopping on board is a welcome addition.
Snapdragon X Elite processors have been the talk of the computing world for months. If you go back to before we knew the official name of the processors, it's actually been years since the hype began for Qualcomm's new chips. Benchmarks shared by Qualcomm show the Snapdragon X Elite competing with Apple silicon. Qualcomm also appears confident that its new processors will compete with Intel Core Ultra CPUs.
We won't have to wait long to see the Snapdragon X Elite in action. Several PC manufacturers will release computers powered by the chips in 2024, including Microsoft's Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6 reportedly set to run processors based on the Snapdragon X Elite.
