Windows 11 on Arm now has enough native apps that most users are spending the majority of their time in them, says Arm

Arm says that users are now spending over 90% of their time on Windows on Arm PCs using natively compiled Arm-based apps on Windows 11, a huge improvement over prior years.

With the launch of Snapdragon-powered Copilot+ PCs last year, it appears Windows on Arm is finally getting its moment in the spotlight. Developers are now taking the platform seriously, with over 100 popular and mainstream Windows apps now natively compiled for Arm.

"The application experience on Windows on Arm is no longer about checking for compatibility. It’s about unlocking better performance, longer battery life, and more intelligent features across the board," says Arm in a blog posted on May 16.

Some of the best native Windows on Arm apps include Google Chrome, WhatsApp, Davinci Resolve, Adobe Photoshop, Spotify, Microsoft Office, Slack, and many more. Pretty much all mainstream browsers now support Windows on Arm, as do most messaging apps.

Even in cases where an app isn't natively compiled for Arm, recent improvements to the x86 emulation layer mean even non-native apps run well on the latest Copilot+ PCs from Snapdragon. We are in a new era for Windows on Arm PCs, one where app compatibility issues are at an all-time low.

With that said, compatibility issues aren't entirely gone. There are still some apps that don't run well or at all on Windows on Arm, including most of the Adobe suite, as well as many games and some accessories, such as older printers and peripherals.

However, this list is shrinking every day. For people using Windows PCs for productivity-based tasks, I'd wager that there's unlikely to be any app you need that doesn't work on Windows on Arm, whether emulated or otherwise.

I've been daily driving a Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 since June 2024, and I believe it to be the best Windows laptop you can buy, even a year later. It's the MacBook Pro of the Windows world, with all-day battery life and good performance. You really can't go wrong, and my experience with it has only gotten better as more apps become natively available on Arm.

So, if you've been worried about buying a Windows on Arm PC, like the new Surface Pro 12-inch, due to potential app compatibility issues, I say you're unlikely to encounter any problems at this point. The app compatibility gap is smaller than ever.