Microsoft has begun accepting 64-bit ARM apps for the Microsoft Store, updated Visual Studio to support recompiling Win32 apps to run natively on ARM devices
Developers can now recompile Win32 apps to run natively on Windows 10 on Arm devices. — With new Lenovo and Samsung Windows 10 …
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the tooling step in Microsoft's long ARM push. The arc started in December 2016, when Microsoft announced it would use emulation tech built with Qualcomm to run x86 Win32 apps on Windows 10 on ARM — a compatibility bridge that let devices like the new Lenovo and Samsung machines exist at all, but left every translated app paying an emulation tax.
Two years later, Microsoft is attacking the tax itself: the Store now accepts 64-bit ARM submissions and Visual Studio can recompile Win32 apps to run natively. That complements rather than replaces the bridge — Microsoft later committed to x64 emulation on Windows 10 on ARM and shipped Visual Studio 2022 with Arm64 support, making the platform workable whether or not developers recompile.
First-order effects
- Windows developers gain a supported path to ship 64-bit ARM binaries through the Microsoft Store, and owners of the new Lenovo and Samsung ARM devices get native performance instead of emulated execution for recompiled Win32 apps.
Second-order effects
- Native recompilation weakens the case against ARM laptops on app-compatibility grounds, putting pressure on Intel's hold on the premium thin-and-light Windows market and raising the stakes for Qualcomm as the sole silicon partner named in the coverage.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds — emulation as the bridge, native tooling as the destination — Windows' application ecosystem gradually splits into ARM-native and x86 tracks, with the Store's acceptance policy acting as the gatekeeper deciding which track gets distribution advantages.
The trend: Windows on ARM is shifting from an emulation-dependent compatibility play toward a self-sustaining native 64-bit app ecosystem, with Microsoft's developer tools setting the pace.