coDiagnostiX on ARM/Apple Mx CPUs
1. Technical background
ARM is a microprocessor architecture competing with x86 (including the now dominant variant that has the 64-bit extensions often called x86-64, x64 or AMD64), the architecture used by Intel and AMD for decades in the desktop and laptop computer space.
Apple completely switched to the ARM architecture a few years ago. Their M1, M2, M3, M4 and probably following generations are all ARM-based. In the Windows market, x86 is still the dominant architecture, with rising numbers of ARM devices.
To be able to run Microsoft Windows on a device with an ARM-based CPU, a specific version of Windows is necessary. Microsoft calls this version “Windows on ARM”.
Software also needs to be specifically written and compiled to be compatible with the ARM architecture in order to work. But Windows on ARM has a trick up its sleeve, which is called x86 emulation. This allows a lot of software developed for the “regular” x86 Windows to just work on Windows on ARM and thus ARM-based CPUs.
This emulation is not perfect, though. Additional issues can occur that would not when running the same software version on an x86 based CPU.
The same is true for running Windows software on an Apple computer. It is necessary to use virtualization software like Parallels, to run Windows on an Apple Mac and in the case of an ARM-based Mac from Apple only Windows on ARM will work.
2. What that means for coDiagnostiX
coDiagnostiX is as of 2024 only available for Windows with the x86 architecture in mind. So, if it needs to run on ARM-based systems, Windows on ARM is necessary and its emulation for x86 software comes into play.
Unfortunately, we have not certified the usage of coDiagnostiX on such systems yet. Additional issues can occur.
This is true for Apple Mac systems, as well as for ARM-based systems running Windows on ARM directly.
What this does not mean is that coDiagnostiX is not running at all, but we cannot guarantee full and correct functionality at this point and the customer needs to be aware of this situation.
We are working on better solutions for the future with the rising market share of ARM-based computers in mind.