But stunningly these benchmarks show that in the number one use of PC’s, productivity, Intel still smacks Qualcomm.
PCMark like BAPco has long been an Intel tainted piece of nonsense that favors Intel specific extensions. It really should be called IntelMark. Run a non-biased web test or Excel spreadsheet test and not PCMark and the results show Intel is actually lagging. Case in point:
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Mind blowing performance is one thing…but when you still can’t print a simple excel file to your still working fine/decade old Sharp printer, it makes it a little hard to get too excited.
So it would seem my theory of Pro 9+/Laptop 5+ with 14th gen Intel and ARM only Pro 10/Laptop 6 seems to be on the money thus far.
Its a smart move when you think about.
Commercially, ARM is the hardest Surface to sell, and whatever sales the Pro 9 5G, has had, I’d go as far as to say 80% of those had no idea they were getting ARM and were in for a rude awakening, conveniently after their windows for RMA’ing the devices.
If they went straight to ARM commercially with Pro 10/Laptop 6, they would flop so hard.
But Retail is a different beast. One could argue this could be a repeat of the original ARM Surface before the Pro model came out. But with decent enough emulation (with still no solution for drivers) Microsofts big push to force ARM Surfaces might pay off. Or at least with enough users with device in hand, that might force some develops to develop long needed drivers for the damn thing.
It will be interesting if they end up offering the Pro9+/Laptop 5+ to retail down the road. How soon will likely determine how much of a flop ARM only ends up being.
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My suspicions are Microsoft is expanding their x86 translation code to provide driver virtualization support on ARM. That is honestly the only way they are going to get this off of the ground and what will work in the years ahead. x86 only VPN and system drivers are not going anywhere anytime soon and providing an abstraction layer for the driver space would close that gap.
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Does that mean ARM will have Registry 2.0?
That is another rumor and hope about Windows 12: modularizing and decoupling Windows so the legacy bits are only invoked when absolutely necessary to improve performance and efficiency. The registry may otherwise look and function identically but I would imagine it too would have to evolve to support this transition.
Hopefully 12 also uses less space.
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For some businesses I can understand that being a dealbreaker, but I think for consumers or self-employed workers it is not that big of an issue. This device +type cover is going to cost 1500-2000 bucks ex VAT? I think at those prices buying an extra printer is mildly annoying but not a showstopper.
offtopic: today for the first time I spotted a Surface Book in the wild (I regularly see Surface Pro’s but never saw a Surface Book before). I actually thought it was a Surface Laptop at first but I saw a surface pen attached to the side of the screen and then I noticed the unique hinge. Still good looking device. I asked him if it was a good laptop and if it was reliable. He said it was good hardware and also handy tablet feature. Now I am bummed MS stopped that series. 
(Surface Book with meteor lake or amd cpu would be cool for decent tablet battery life)
And that’s precisely why they are offering 14th gen Intel Pro 9+/Laptop 5+ to commercial only
And I agree for a consumer/self employed where you only buy a single device its far less of an issue.
Large companies that would purchase anywhere from 50 devices to 1000, ARM can be a huge deal breaker.
They’re actually trying to make all printers going forward work with generic drivers. My understanding is that this was partially the cause of the “HP Smart” app bug. Which, honestly about time. But doesn’t fix this problem for old hardware either.
Anyway, I still have no faith in Windows on ARM, but the biggest software news in literally two years (since Photoshop in 2021) is that Google put out Chrome (Canary builds) for ARM64 this week.
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Nor does it fix the problem that “Generic” drivers often don’t have the same level of functionality and print options that a dedicated driver would have. I have seen at least one Pro 9 5G opportunity flatline because while a generic print driver was available it worked, but it didn’t offer specific printing options they needed.
My understanding is ‘print support apps’ from the Store are supposed to allow that customization, if their plan goes well (which knowing Microsoft, it won’t).
They’re going to stop publishing new / updated third-party printer drivers in Windows/Windows Update in 2025, and by 2027 they’re removing the ability to install or update printer drivers through Windows Update entirely. Third-party installers will still be an option but it seems clear they’re trying to get manufacturers to move away from that.
So their real answer is basically “If it’s too hard, just remove the option”? Helps free up resources for some more advertising and AI BS…
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The last ARM update loaded a MS printer controller. To use our office network hub, I had to opt out. But maybe itll make my old P1600 work again.
My Epison at home works fine but that is a network printer as well.
To be fair, those third-party printer drivers also are potentially a huge security vulnerability as well.
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Yesterday’s Windows Weakly did nothing to encourage my enthusiasm for Surface with this statement from Thurrott concerning earnings performance:
“Surface is circling the drain, frankly…” [24:00 mark]
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The worst part is how dismissive Thurott was like the entire thing is already past tense LOL. Not LOL.
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He is that way routinely (only out-done by his insistence on always proving “he said/thought it first”) but too often he turns out right. This time, despite he’d insist he was first, many commentators, and the conversations here, show that a lot of people think Surface is seeing the end of days. That would dovetail into the news item I mentioned the other day that SP 9+ may be the only intelligent SKU, with SP 10 being ARM only - if they get the WOA train to move down the track they may pull the plug on Surface and leave hardware development to the OEM’s…
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It’s amazing how little of that there has been.
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