On June 21, according to The Register, Samsung recently launched the GalaxyBook Edge 4, a Copilot+ PC equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series processors. However, Samsung has warned buyers in Korea (apparently limited to Korea) that its Copilot+ PC cannot run many common applications.
“Copilot+ PC” is Microsoft’s new designation for Windows PCs with NPU (Neural Processing Unit) cores and Microsoft’s AI assistant, Copilot. Microsoft aims to create an entirely new system architecture by combining the powerful performance of CPU, GPU, and NPU. According to Microsoft, a Copilot+ PC requires at least 16GB of memory, a 256GB SSD, and an NPU performance of over 40 TOPS, enabling it to run all the advanced AI features of Windows 11 at satisfactory speeds and provide all-day battery life.
The first batch of Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs utilizes the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor’s NPU with 45 TOPS of performance, based on Arm architecture.
Since most PCs use x86 architecture, many applications are designed based on the x86 instruction set. In contrast, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X series processors are based on the Arm instruction set architecture, leading to compatibility concerns that have long hindered the popularity of Arm-based Windows PCs (Microsoft introduced the Surface RT as early as 2012, and Qualcomm has since continued to partner with others to launch Windows PCs based on the Snapdragon platform).
Although Microsoft previously stated that 87% of applications for Windows 11 for Arm are now Arm-native, with only 13% needing compatibility layer translation, applications like Photoshop, Dropbox, Zoom, Spotify, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and major web browsers like Chrome, Edge, and Firefox now have native Arm versions. Particularly in recent years, with the success of Arm-based Apple Mac products, various applications are indeed transitioning to the Arm ecosystem or actively seeking compatibility. Microsoft also introduced the Prism emulator, claiming double the translation efficiency of older versions.
Nonetheless, many applications still cannot run on Qualcomm Snapdragon X series processors and Windows 11 for Arm systems.
Consequently, Samsung has warned that many security applications, Adobe Illustrator, and Google Drive will not run on its Copilot+ PC. Furthermore, games such as Fortnite, League of Legends, and Microsoft’s flagship shooter game Halo Infinite are also not well-suited to Windows 11 for Arm and Snapdragon chips. Some websites of Korean financial service providers are also incompatible with these devices, and compatibility pages warn that certain printers may not work with these machines without new software.
However, Samsung has not issued similar compatibility warnings on websites outside Korea. This raises the question of whether Copilot+ PCs sold outside Korea face similar severe compatibility issues.
Notably, around 2005, Microsoft lost an antitrust lawsuit in Korea and was required to separate some Windows components (especially the media player). The OS giant continued to release special Windows versions for Korea at least until Windows 10.
Currently, Samsung and Microsoft have not provided further explanations regarding this compatibility statement.
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