Microsoft has plans to bring “x86 Emulation” for ARM64 on Windows 10 Mobile with Redstone 3

When Microsoft introduced Continuum, they bet big on Universal Apps, a strategy that is still taking time. Continuum itself is only a concept, and with decline on number of handsets, it did hit the wall.

However, Microsoft made it clear that they aren’t giving up on building Windows 10 Mobile because that would become a problem if they ever wanted to do something on ARM space. Mobile form may change, the way we communicate will change, but ARM which is the heart of Mobility will always stay.

That said, if Microosft wants to make Continuum a big success, and let users experience the same desktop experience on mobile, they need to bring x86 support, and looks like thats in the plan. The company is working on x86 emulation on ARM64, code named “Cobalt” (CHPE)as reported by ZDNet and the Walking Cat. 

The feature will come alive in Redstone 3 which is expected to rollout in Fall 2017. Here is a quote from the report of the term CHPE:

My guess is the HP here is HP, as HP has been working increasingly closely with Microsoft on its Windows 10 PCs and the HP Elite x3 Windows Phone. (Maybe the “E” is for emulation?)

HP officials told me a month or so ago that the majority of enterprise users of its Elite x3 who wanted to run x86 apps via Continuum already had some kind of remote-desktop capabilities, primarily via Citrix, that enabled them to access their x86/line-of-business apps. HP reworked its HP Workspace viruatization service so that it targeted smaller business customers who didn’t have x86 app access but lacked corporate remote-desktop access to be able to tap into their x86 apps.

This also lines up with Qualcomm Snapdragon 830 chip which will have some kind of virtualisation capability that Windows 10 Mobile would need, and Microsoft might just announce a phone to showcase what it can do to set up a benchmark for other OEM.