Some features are unavailable when running Photoshop natively on Windows 10 ARM devices.

Adobe Photoshop now works with Microsoft’s Windows 10 on ARM, letting devices powered by ARM-based architecture, like the Surface Pro X, run the software natively.

Photoshop Now Runs Natively on ARM

If you have an ARM-based Windows 10 PC, you should be treated to noticeable performance gains when working on Photoshop documents. Before this change, Photoshop used to run under emulation on Windows 10 ARM PCs, limiting its performance severely.

Adobe clarifies that the ARM version of Photoshop requires a Windows 10 ARM device running Windows 10 64-bit v19041.488.0 (Win10 20H1) or higher, equipped with a minimum of eight gigabytes of memory (the company recommends 16 gigabytes of RAM).

To update your computer’s Windows 10 software, open Windows Update and select Check for Updates. You can download a version of Photoshop that’s appropriate for your device by visiting your Creative Cloud account’s Apps section.

Photoshop Features: Native vs. Nonnative

Some of the Photoshop features are unavailable when running the software natively on Windows 10, according to a support document on the Adobe website, including these:

• Import, export, and playback of embedded video layers
• Shake Reduction filter
• Invite to Edit workflows are not supported
• Preset syncing is not on by default
• Windows Dial support
• Generator and related features
• Opening or placing U3D files
• Starting Photoshop from Lightroom “Edit In” command
• Oil Paint filter
• Spell checking and hyphenation for Hebrew and Arabic languages
• Plugin Marketplace panel

“These features will be added in subsequent releases,” reads the document.

A Major Creative Boost for the Surface

This is a major boost for the Surface platform because creative professionals can now edit their Photoshop projects on the go without skipping a beat. It’s also great news for Windows on ARM, a Microsoft project to create and maintain a version of Windows 10 specifically designed for devices that are based on ARM architecture.

Microsoft used to neglect Windows on ARM as an unwanted child, but not anymore. There has been a renewed sense of urgency in terms of Windows on ARM—especially since Apple announced a major switch to its own in-house silicon for its Mac computers.

Related: Techniques to Help You Start Learning Photoshop

Microsoft is clearly catching up to the Apple M1 chip in this regard. And with ARM-based support for Photoshop available on M1 Macs as of March 2021, Microsoft is going to need all the help and support it can get from creative software publishers such as Adobe.

And last but certainly not least, other major software developers could now be motivated to create ARM-based versions of their apps to run natively on Windows 10 on ARM.

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