While this may change with Project Volterra, normally when talking about Microsoft, many people are the first to be attacked by binomial Wintel, the one that forms a common platform between Windows and Intel. But the truth is Microsoft has also made several raids on ARMand Project Volterra is just the latest of them. We’ve seen some Surface devices that use ARM before, not to mention a specific version of Windows for this platform architecture.

The devastating success of ARM in the mobile ecosystem It has not been transferred, at least for now, to the world of the PCin which their presence is a pure testimony. Of course, except for Apple, who with his M1 SoC showed that ARM can stand the X86 / 64 architecture in many environments. And we certainly need to take a close look at the move taken two years ago by Cupertino and the Apple Silicon to understand the growing interest in the computer world in ARM and, subsequently, in Project Volterra.

The Volterra project was introduced today by Microsoft and consists of mini PC for ARM-based developers and equipped with a neural processor unit, a key element for years in the mobile ecosystem, but has not yet made the leap for the PC. Of course, this will come with the necessary development tools so that developers can start working on projects specifically focused on ARM, or more precisely, we understand this for the Windows for ARM version.

Mini PC on which Project Volterra is built will be equipped with Qualcomm SoC, a choice that doesn’t seem casual because it’s the technology that has advanced the most, with the exception of Apple, to bring ARM to the desktop. In addition, his great advances in the application of artificial intelligence in SoC for smartphones are of great value to Microsoft’s plans to include the introduction of neural processor units into PCs, and this interest is not just speculation.

«Because we expect an NPU (Neural processor unit) Incorporated into most, if not all, of the computing devices of the future, we will make it easier for developers to take advantage of these new capabilities by incorporating NPU support into the Windows platform from start to finish.«. These are the words of Panos Panay, the head of Windows at Microsoft, so we can expect it to be Project Volterra just the first of the other very interesting steps in this regard in the future.