At the Microsoft Build event in Seattle, the tech giant has just announced a bold plan to take on Apple in an effort to stay competitive: AI. Teaming up with chipmaker Qualcomm, Microsoft intends to bring better AI experiences to users across consumer, enterprise, and industrial devices. This partnership will allow more Windows devices to be equipped with Qualcomm’s successful Snapdragon processors – chips which are predominantly found in mobile phones, tablets, and Chromebooks.
This move could prove to be beneficial for users in many ways. AI applications running on local hardware can increase cost effectiveness, privacy, personalization, and latency. This has been demonstrated by Qualcomm who showcased Windows devices running Stable Diffusion (an AI art generator) using only local hardware. Meanwhile, privacy is also ensured as a lot of AI programs currently rely on cloud computing.
On the downside, Windows on ARM (WoA) still remains a problem. As the operating system is officially designed for x86 and x64 instruction sets, only software from the Microsoft Store is compatible with WoA, leaving users of ARM-based devices to be limited to the offerings in the Store. However, all this could be solved if Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 12 OS manages to bridge the gap between x86 and ARM. Hopefully, once powered with Snapdragon AI capabilities, Windows devices will finally dominate the MacBooks from Apple.
