- Latest Windows 11 update contains an important feature for Arm processors
- It introduces support for AVX and AVX2 with Prism emulation
- Some PC games use these extensions and didn’t previously work with Snapdragon X chips – but now they should.
Microsoft just gave Windows 11 laptops with Arm processors better support for games (and software too) with the latest operating system update.
Windows Latest reports that the October 2025 Update (KB5066835) for Windows 11 (both versions 24H2 and 25H2, which are essentially the same thing) comes with a big update for Prism. This is Microsoft’s emulation layer for running x86 apps and games (AMD and Intel) on Arm chips like Qualcomm’s Snapdragon
Not all games work with Prism, and titles using AVX or AVX2 are a problem. These are extensions to the x86 instruction set that, at a basic level, offer sophisticated CPU tricks to run faster – and Prism can now handle these extensions. (And others, including BMI, FMA, F16C, and more, but AVX is the main advancement here).
In short, some games using AVX or AVX2 that weren’t loading at all will now work, so players will benefit from a wider range of compatibility with Windows on Arm.
As mentioned, it’s not just about games, but also about software, and this includes for example some Adobe Creative Cloud applications, which those with a Snapdragon X laptop did not have access to before.
Analysis: a year of waiting
This expanded Prism support went into testing almost a year ago (November 2024, in fact), so it took Microsoft a while to get it done and out of preview.
Windows Latest tested the beefed-up version of Arm emulation and found that it allowed most PC games in their Steam collection to launch and run successfully. However, the tech site observed that there was “extremely variable performance” from game to game.
Reports on Reddit reflect this, so unfortunately it’s not a panacea for all AVX-related gaming issues on Windows 11 with Arm. We also need to keep in mind that emulating a game or application will always incur overhead and performance will never be as good as running native software (coded for Arm, rather than x86 AMD or Intel).
Still, Microsoft finally releasing this new feature for Prism is a big step forward, even if it took a long time. While complaints remain about the frequency of Qualcomm’s GPU updates (integrated Adreno) and hardware driver compatibility issues with Windows on Arm in general, progress is definitely being made to make Arm laptops a more reliable platform. Anti-cheat tools also remain a problem for players, but a solution is finally in the works and seems imminent.
