- Windows 11’s latest update includes an important feature for Arm CPUs
- It introduces support for AVX and AVX2 with Prisme emulation
- Some PC games use these extensions and previously wouldn’t work with Snapdragon X chips – but they should now
Microsoft just gave Windows 11 laptops with Arm processors better support for games (and software too) thanks to the latest update to the operating system.
Windows Latest reports that the October 2025 update (KB5066835) for Windows 11 (both versions 24H2 and 25H2, which are essentially the same) brings a major update to Prism. This is Microsoft’s emulation layer for running x86 (AMD and Intel) apps and games on Arm chips like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X.
Not all games work with Prism, and one problem area has been titles that use AVX or AVX2. These are extensions to the x86 instruction set, which at a basic level do some clever CPU tricks to run faster – and now Prism can handle these extensions. (And others besides, including BMI, FMA, F16C and more, but AVX is the most important advance here).
In short, some games using AVX or AVX2 that were not loaded at all will now work, giving players a wider range of compatibility with Windows on Arm.
As mentioned, it’s not just games, but software too, and it includes, for example, some Adobe Creative Cloud apps that those with a Snapdragon X laptop haven’t had access to before.
Analysis: one year waiting time
This extended support for Prism was tested almost a year ago (November 2024, actually), so it’s taken Microsoft quite a while to work through and get it out of preview.
Windows Latest tested the improved version of Arm emulation and found that it allowed most PC games in their Steam collection to launch and work. However, the tech site observed that there was “wildly varying performance” from game to game.
Reports on Reddit reflect this, so unfortunately this isn’t a panacea for all AVX-related gaming issues on Windows 11 with Arm. We also have to keep in mind that emulating a game or app will always have some cost and the performance will never be as good as running a native piece of software (coded for Arm, rather than x86 AMD or Intel).
Still, Microsoft finally getting this new feature to Prism live is a big step forward, even if it took a long time. While there are still complaints about the frequency of Qualcomm’s (integrated Adreno) GPU updates, and issues with hardware driver compatibility with Windows on Arm in general, there is definitely progress towards making Arm laptops a more reliable platform. Anti-cheat tools also remain a problem for players, but a solution is finally on the way and seemingly imminent.
