Latest Windows 11 Insider Preview brings updated Prism emulator for Arm PCs

2024-11-07

One of the main issues with Windows on Arm so far has been combability with x86-based apps and games. Microsoft’s new Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27744 features an updated Prism emulator for Arm PCs bringing support for additional CPU extensions, including AVX, AVX2, BMI, FMA, and F16C. This means apps like Adobe Premiere Pro 2025 and gaming titles like Starfield and Helldivers 2 will now work on Arm PCs.

Windows devices with Arm chips like those equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and X Plus SoCs will now be able to run more legacy apps and gaming titles which don’t have native ARM64 versions.

In addition to the updated Prism emulator, the new Insider Preview Build brings a new on-screen gamepad keyboard, which allows you to navigate and type in Windows 11. This feature will be a great addition for gaming handhelds and touchscreen devices.

The rest of the changelog includes the ability to detach hard disks from the Settings app, improvements to the Task Manager and other minor bug fixes.

Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 27744 changelog:

General

• We fixed the issue causing some Insiders with PCs that have older NVIDIA GPUs (like the GTX 970, Quadro K620, etc.) to experience issues where their displays appear stuck at a black screen and unresponsive or seeing their GPUs showing errors in Device Manager and not working correctly.

Input

• Fixed an underlying issue causing the Emoji Panel and Clipboard History to not open in certain surfaces anymore, including in Registry Editor.
• Fixed an underlying issue which could lead to clipboard history not displaying items you’d copied.

Windows Sandbox

• Fixed an issue impacting performance of Windows Sandbox for some Insiders after the latest updates.

Graphics

• Fixed an which could lead dynamic refresh rate to get stuck at 60Hz on first boot.

Other

• Fixed an issue causing some Insiders to see a bugcheck with error PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA starting in Build 27723.
• Fixed an issue causing remote desktop connection (mstsc.exe) to crash in the previous flight.
• Fixed a msmpeg2vdec.dll related issue in the last couple flights which was leading to some apps crashing.
• Fixed an issue where rotation info about JPGs couldn’t be queried via APIs (for example, via PowerShell).
• Fixed an underlying issue which was causing the Get-WindowsCapability command to get into a state sometimes where it would fail unexpectedly until rebooting your PC.
• Fixed an issue causing mica to not work correctly when using a slideshow for your desktop background.
• Fixed an issue which could lead to certain apps not detecting a scanner, although one was connected.

Source