Qualcomm, Mozilla working on native Firefox browser for Windows on ARM

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Qualcomm and Mozilla recently announced it’s working on a 64-bit version of the Firefox browser for Qualcomm-powered Windows machines that run on ARM. Having a native version of the app promises better performance for the browser. The browser tab will run on individual cores in the CPU and Qualcomm says there are plenty of cores to spare. Mozilla writes in a blog post about the collaboration saying, “Mozilla is excited to be collaborating with Qualcomm and optimizing Firefox. We can’t wait to see Firefox delivering blazing fast experiences for the always on, always connected, multi-core Snapdragon compute platform with Windows 10.”

Source: The Verge

Microsoft, Google are working together to bring Chrome to Windows on ARM

Hoping to give Windows on ARM machines a bit more support, Microsoft is working with Google to make the Chrome browser a native Windows on ARM app. Microsoft is trying its luck again by creating Windows 10 on ARM, a line of PCs that run on ARM processors. It didn’t succeed the first time around with Windows RT and how limiting the system is. But this time it can run on x86 programs in an emulator, expanding the range of software the machine can run. But this will, of course, affect performance, so it’s better to develop native ARM apps.

That’s where this new collaboration comes in. Technically, Chrome works on ARM systems, but it doesn’t currently compile properly as a Windows-on-ARM application. 9to5Google spotted various commits by Microsoft engineers helping develop Chrome for Windows 10 on ARM. With the help of Microsoft developers and addressing issues, this can change that. Qualcomm is supposedly helping out as an executive last month said they are working to bring a native ARM port to Windows.

Source: Ars Technica

Qualcomm outlines Windows on ARM PC release via various US carriers

Windows On Arm devices are going to be laptops and 2-in-1's capable of running Windows 10 just like Intel-powered devices but they will have smaller form factors as well as vastly improved battery life thanks to the ARM architechture which have been developed for smartphones and tablets. Another aspect of Windows on ARM is the always connected aspect since cellular capability is on board with these devices.  

Qualcomm revealed that Windows on ARM will release via 14 carriers (none of which are in Canada) and will feature three models.

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