Jump to content
You must now use your email address to sign in [click for more info] ×

Windows on ARM


Recommended Posts

I am currently using Affinity V2 on Windows 11 on ARM and it works fine under x64 emulation, but it is definitely visible that it is running in emulation. On the FAQs there is an answer that states that Affinity V2 will not be available natively on ARM because WPF is not supported on ARM. However, WPF has been supported on ARM from .NET 6. Is there an updated answer to this question? For instance, I think it would be reasonable to state that support for ARM is waiting for a stable release of VS2022 for ARM, which is not available yet (only a preview).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, bem said:

However, WPF has been supported on ARM from .NET 6. Is there an updated answer to this question?

The Affinity applications use .NET 4.8, and WPF is not supported there.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, walt.farrell said:

The Affinity applications use .NET 4.8, and WPF is not supported there.

That support was added in .NET 4.8.1 for ARM64. It feels like we are getting the runaround instead of a simple statement that there is no desire to support the Affinity applications on ARM64. That's a valid decision to make, but it's not based on technical feasibility.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, bem said:

That support was added in .NET 4.8.1 for ARM64.

Interesting. That's not what I was told, but I haven't checked for myself. Thanks.

-- Walt
Designer, Photo, and Publisher V1 and V2 at latest retail and beta releases
PC:
    Desktop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 64GB memory, AMD Ryzen 9 5900 12-Core @ 3.00 GHz, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 

    Laptop:  Windows 11 Pro, version 23H2, 32GB memory, Intel Core i7-10750H @ 2.60GHz, Intel UHD Graphics Comet Lake GT2 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU.
iPad:  iPad Pro M1, 12.9": iPadOS 17.4.1, Apple Pencil 2, Magic Keyboard 
Mac:  2023 M2 MacBook Air 15", 16GB memory, macOS Sonoma 14.4.1

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, fde101 said:

Yes, that seems to be a limitation. However, as it is today, Affinity only works on ARM devices on Windows 11 because that's the only version where x64 emulation is available. It seems that Microsoft has abandoned Windows 10 on ARM and is focusing only on Windows 11, and that makes some sense as there were very few ARM Windows devices shipped prior to Windows 11 release.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

20 hours ago, bem said:

It feels like we are getting the runaround instead of a simple statement that there is no desire to support the Affinity applications on ARM64. That's a valid decision to make, but it's not based on technical feasibility.

This is 100% the answer, unfortunately.  The claim about needing to support older versions of Windows has been BS for a while.  .NET 5 and 6 have full support for Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This page states that ".NET Framework 4.8.1 adds native Arm64 support to the .NET Framework family" and ".NET Framework 4.8.1 offers two Windows UI development platforms, both of which provide developers with the support necessary to create accessible applications. Over the past several releases, both Windows Forms and WPF have added new features and fixed numerous reliability issues related to accessibility" and a bunch of other stuff about WPF in .NET 4.8.x such as "WPF had implemented most of the requirements for WCAG2.1 compliant tooltips in .NET Framework 4.8. In this release, WPF improved the experience"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

+1 for Windows on ARM support.

I've just purchased the Surface Pro 9 5G and it's an excellent machine, but native software does seem to be lacking. Most things I do can be solved with a PWA, but there are specific things that would benefit from real desktop apps - Affinity Suite being amongst them.

I knew there'd be limited support, as there was for Apple Silicon when I bought the M1 MacBook Air a couple of years ago and it didn't take long for vendors to catch up. I believe it's a chicken and egg situation, if nobody buys these ARM devices then there's no point vendors producing software for such a minority so I'm committing to the cause :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Guidelines | We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.