Similar to a Chromebook, Microsoft’s Windows on ARM platform consist mostly of a browser-based workflow.

While Microsoft, its chipset manufacturers, and its PC partners are promising similar 3rd party application workflows to current Intel-based devices, the reality is that development on the ARM64 architecture has been anemic at best, leaving the experience 2nd rate to Google’s offering, and a distant third option to regular Intel-powered Windows 10 devices.

With that being said, it’s becoming more vital that Microsoft expedites its Chromium-based internet browser replacement development, but in the meantime, Mozilla is stepping up to the plate with its new made for ARM64 Firefox browser.

Please note that these builds are even nightlier than our normal nightlies on other platforms: they have *not* gone through our usual automated testing process, bugs are almost certain to crop up, etc. That being said, I have been using builds off automation (manually updating them) for several weeks now and have had a pleasant experience.

There are still a few areas that we know need work: the Gecko profiler is not functional but should be by the end of the week. The crashreporter does not work. Our top-tier JS JIT (IonMonkey) is not turned on. WebRTC is not turned on. EME (Netflix, etc.) does not work yet. And so forth…Did I mention that these are nightlies?

The ARM64 version of Firefox’s Nightly release is finally up for download and install on their website now despite the company offering ARM64 support in previous public builds for the past month.

For anyone with a Window 10 S Mode device looking to try another ARM64 browser to keep battery consumption low, remember that this Firefox Nightly release is still a .exe and will require a switch out of S Mode.

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