Windows 10: When Is Windows WDK Expected For Arm Development

tyler grenier · Oct 22, 2023

Hello World, I was wondering when the arm64 version of windows wdk is scheduled to be release because I'm on mac m2 with parallels and i need access to driver development on my mac m2. I drove myself crazy today looking for a solution, so this is my last resort PLEASE HELP.... Also, I marked this as devices and drivers because the issue with the installer is the architecture which is a device issue.

:)

Brink · Oct 22, 2023

Why Windows is not ready for Arm developers

In a recent blog post, ZDNet's Jason Perlow suggested that the main obstacle to Windows on Arm is the hardware. If only the hardware were available, we could have a great experience because the software and developer tools are ready. This is simply not true when you consider the state of developer tools on Windows for Arm. Microsoft's official developer toolchain is quite bad on Arm. Microsoft doesn't provide Arm versions of Visual Studio, VS Build Tools, or even just Microsoft Visual C++; they expect Arm developers to cross-compile C++ software on an x86 host or emulate x86 software. There is native Arm support for .NET and VS Code, but this doesn't help C++ developers. Since MSVC is closed source, the only way to get native support for MSVC on Arm is for Microsoft to implement it. See Visual Studio Feedback The open source situation isn't any better. There are no Arm implementations of the MinGW or MSYS development environments; therefore, no Arm GCC or Arm Clang toolchain is available yet on Windows, either. There are feature requests open for them to add native Arm support, but it is not ready yet. If you go to Arm's website, they have a page where you can download MinGW GCC for an x86 device to cross-compile for an Arm device. It really says something when the only way to compile your product on Windows is to use a competitor's product. Another popular C++ compiler on Windows is the Intel C++ compiler (ICC). This is not available on Arm for obvious reasons, and it requires Visual Studio to be installed anyway. Therefore, 0 out of 4 popular C++ compilers are available for Arm Windows. There is no Arm native Windows version of Python yet, either. However, this will likely be resolved sometime this year: See Issue 33125: Windows 10 ARM64 platform support - Python tracker You might be wondering why it is so important to have native Arm support for compilers. Many developers already cross-compile from their computers to other devices when developing software for smartphones or consoles, so why can't they do the same with Arm Windows devices? They can, but it's a second-class experience.
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Read more: https://www.zdnet.com/article/op-ed-...rm-developers/

Igor Leyko · Oct 22, 2023

WDK

Hi,

Are you driver's developer and want to develop and carefully test drivers?

If no, you don't' need WDK.

See
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardwa...

Brink · Oct 22, 2023

Limitations of apps and experiences of Windows 10 on ARM

Windows 10 on ARM has the following necessary limitations:

Only ARM64 drivers are supported. As with all architectures, kernel-mode drivers, User-Mode Driver Framework (UMDF) drivers, and print drivers must be compiled to match the architecture of the OS. While ARM OS has the capabilities to emulate x86 user-mode apps, drivers implemented for other architectures (such as x64 or x86) are not currently emulated and thus not supported on this platform. Any app that works with its own custom driver would need to be ported to ARM64. In limited scenarios, the app may run as x86 under emulation but the driver portion of the app must be ported to ARM64. For more info about compiling your driver for ARM64, see Building ARM64 Drivers with the WDK.

x64 apps are not supported. Windows 10 on ARM does not support emulation of x64 apps.

Certain games don’t work. Games and apps that use a version of OpenGL later than 1.1 or that require hardware-accelerated OpenGL don’t work. In addition, games that rely on "anti-cheat" drivers are not supported on this platform.

Apps that customize the Windows experience may not work correctly. Native OS components cannot load non-native components. Examples of apps that commonly do this include some input method editors (IMEs), assistive technologies, and cloud storage apps. IMEs and assistive technologies often to hook into the input stack for much of their app functionality. Cloud storage apps commonly use shell extensions (for example, icons in Explorer and additions to right-click menus); their shell extensions may fail, and if the failure is not handled gracefully, the app itself may not work at all.

Apps that assume that all ARM-based devices are running a mobile version of Windows may not work correctly. Apps that make this assumption may appear in the wrong orientation, present unexpected UI layout or rendering, or failing to start altogether when they attempt to invoke mobile-only APIs without first testing the contract availability.

The Windows Hypervisor Platform is not supported on ARM. Running any virtual machines using Hyper-V on an ARM device will not work.

The following table lists some common issues and offers suggestions on how to resolve them.

[table][tr]Issue Solution [/tr] [tr][td]Your app relies on a driver that isn't designed for ARM.[/td] [td]Recompile your x86 driver to ARM64. See Building ARM64 Drivers with the WDK.[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Your app is available only for x64.[/td] [td]If you develop for Microsoft Store, submit an ARM version of your app. For more info, see App package architectures. If you're a Win32 developer, distribute an x86 version of your app.[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Your app uses an OpenGL version later than 1.1 or requires hardware-accelerated OpenGL.[/td] [td]x86 apps that use DirectX 9, DirectX 10, DirectX 11, and DirectX 12 will work on ARM. For more info, see DirectX Graphics and Gaming.[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Your x86 app does not work as expected.[/td] [td]Try using the Compatibility Troubleshooter by following guidance from Program Compatibility Troubleshooter on ARM. For some other troubleshooting steps, see the Troubleshooting x86 apps on ARM article.[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Your x86 app does not detect that it's running on ARM.[/td] [td]Use IsWow64Process2 to determine if your app is running on ARM.[/td] [/tr] [tr][td]Your UWP ARM32 app does not work as expected.[/td] [td]See Troubleshooting ARM32 apps on ARM to learn how to get your app to work properly on ARM.[/td] [/tr] [/table]
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Source: Limitations of apps and experiences on ARM - UWP app developer | Microsoft Docs

Windows 10: When Is Windows WDK Expected For Arm Development

When Is Windows WDK Expected For Arm Development

When Is Windows WDK Expected For Arm Development

When Is Windows WDK Expected For Arm Development

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