Extremely unhappy with Surface Pro X

I am extremely unhappy with my Surface Pro X because of it's incompatibility with software that I have been using for years.  Previously, I own a Surface Pro for years and it was the greatest computer I had.  However, after purchasing the Pro X for Christmas, I am finding some of the software that I have been using for years will not run anymore.  My understanding is that it is not 64bit.  Why would Microsoft go backward?  

I heard that Emulator will allow my software to run, but I'm sure emulator will slow down the app.

Perhaps Microsoft has a exchange program so I can go back to the other 64bit Surface?  Anyone experience this?

It's not backwards if you understand CPU architecture differences. The ARM-based Qualcomm chip in the Pro X is indeed 64bit, but it runs ARM64 apps natively, whereas you're used to running x64 apps (Intel/AMD).

The 64bit emulation you're looking for expected to be released in the fall update, and for now the emulation layer only supports 32bit x86 apps. Ultimately the solution is for developers to compile their apps to support ARM in addition to Intel and AMD, but the emulation will allow most apps to run without that happening. And yes, there is a performance penalty when running emulated. That will vary depending on the app, but definitely don't run a non-native browser, so stick to Edge and Firefox until Google gets around to releasing Chrome.

Curious what apps you've been using for a long time that you can't get to run on the Pro X. I've had pretty good success with most apps I've wanted to run, but there are some things that won't work - anything that installs a driver can't be emulated as drivers must be native ARM64. Also Qualcomm seems to have not included OpenGL support in their video drivers, so currently apps requiring that graphics API don't work.

The Pro X is a great machine, but it's definitely not for everyone.

I am extremely unhappy with my Surface Pro X because of it's incompatibility with software that I have been using for years.  Previously, I own a Surface Pro for years and it was the greatest computer I had.  However, after purchasing the Pro X for Christmas, I am finding some of the software that I have been using for years will not run anymore.  My understanding is that it is not 64bit.  Why would Microsoft go backward?  

I heard that Emulator will allow my software to run, but I'm sure emulator will slow down the app.

Perhaps Microsoft has a exchange program so I can go back to the other 64bit Surface?  Anyone experience this?

It's not backwards if you understand CPU architecture differences. The ARM-based Qualcomm chip in the Pro X is indeed 64bit, but it runs ARM64 apps natively, whereas you're used to running x64 apps (Intel/AMD).

The 64bit emulation you're looking for expected to be released in the fall update, and for now the emulation layer only supports 32bit x86 apps. Ultimately the solution is for developers to compile their apps to support ARM in addition to Intel and AMD, but the emulation will allow most apps to run without that happening. And yes, there is a performance penalty when running emulated. That will vary depending on the app, but definitely don't run a non-native browser, so stick to Edge and Firefox until Google gets around to releasing Chrome.

Curious what apps you've been using for a long time that you can't get to run on the Pro X. I've had pretty good success with most apps I've wanted to run, but there are some things that won't work - anything that installs a driver can't be emulated as drivers must be native ARM64. Also Qualcomm seems to have not included OpenGL support in their video drivers, so currently apps requiring that graphics API don't work.

The Pro X is a great machine, but it's definitely not for everyone.

Hi DomFriant,

I'm actually a fan of the Surface.  I told everyone how great the machine is over the years I had my first Surface.  I came to the MS store in Dec.  looking to upgrade to the latest and greatest Surface.  The Pro X market itself to be that machine with larger screen, ultra thin, longer battery, etc, etc.  So I bought it.

While I appreciate your explanation of why Microsoft went with this direction and maybe there's an emulator in the fall, the bottom line is I can't use the machine for what we normally do.  A couple of software that I know doesn't work is CorelDraw.  We have a subscription to the latest version.  Also Awning Composer, a 3D rendering of awning architecture program.  They told me right out that it only works with 64bit machine.  While these are the only ones I have time to research the reason it is not running on Pro X, I have other issues with other programs that I don't know if it is the Pro X or some other problem.  This caused much wasted time and heartache because I can't trust the Pro X.

I think your last comment hits the nail on the head.   Microsoft market the machine as something great, but actually "it's definitely not for everyone".  I don't know if you are from Microsoft, but if anyone is listening from MS, I would like to trade mine in for the Pro 7.  I can't stop working and wait for a slower performance emulator that's months down the road.

I was wondering does the surface pro x work with Visio without any issues?

thank you for your help DomFriant.  All your research is correct.  Not able to run Coreldraw 2021 when I subscribe to it.  And awning composer has some graphics issue but does seem to run.  These are all correct.  I just don't like that it having these issues, and that in some case it feel slower than my previous Surface.   I'll check with Microsoft to see what options is available.  Happy Easter!

I am extremely unhappy with my Surface Pro X because of it's incompatibility with software that I have been using for years.  Previously, I own a Surface Pro for years and it was the greatest computer I had.  However, after purchasing the Pro X for Christmas, I am finding some of the software that I have been using for years will not run anymore.  My understanding is that it is not 64bit.  Why would Microsoft go backward?  

I heard that Emulator will allow my software to run, but I'm sure emulator will slow down the app.

Perhaps Microsoft has a exchange program so I can go back to the other 64bit Surface?  Anyone experience this?

It's not backwards if you understand CPU architecture differences. The ARM-based Qualcomm chip in the Pro X is indeed 64bit, but it runs ARM64 apps natively, whereas you're used to running x64 apps (Intel/AMD).

The 64bit emulation you're looking for expected to be released in the fall update, and for now the emulation layer only supports 32bit x86 apps. Ultimately the solution is for developers to compile their apps to support ARM in addition to Intel and AMD, but the emulation will allow most apps to run without that happening. And yes, there is a performance penalty when running emulated. That will vary depending on the app, but definitely don't run a non-native browser, so stick to Edge and Firefox until Google gets around to releasing Chrome.

Curious what apps you've been using for a long time that you can't get to run on the Pro X. I've had pretty good success with most apps I've wanted to run, but there are some things that won't work - anything that installs a driver can't be emulated as drivers must be native ARM64. Also Qualcomm seems to have not included OpenGL support in their video drivers, so currently apps requiring that graphics API don't work.

The Pro X is a great machine, but it's definitely not for everyone.

Hi DomFriant,

I'm actually a fan of the Surface.  I told everyone how great the machine is over the years I had my first Surface.  I came to the MS store in Dec.  looking to upgrade to the latest and greatest Surface.  The Pro X market itself to be that machine with larger screen, ultra thin, longer battery, etc, etc.  So I bought it.

While I appreciate your explanation of why Microsoft went with this direction and maybe there's an emulator in the fall, the bottom line is I can't use the machine for what we normally do.  A couple of software that I know doesn't work is CorelDraw.  We have a subscription to the latest version.  Also Awning Composer, a 3D rendering of awning architecture program.  They told me right out that it only works with 64bit machine.  While these are the only ones I have time to research the reason it is not running on Pro X, I have other issues with other programs that I don't know if it is the Pro X or some other problem.  This caused much wasted time and heartache because I can't trust the Pro X.

I think your last comment hits the nail on the head.   Microsoft market the machine as something great, but actually "it's definitely not for everyone".  I don't know if you are from Microsoft, but if anyone is listening from MS, I would like to trade mine in for the Pro 7.  I can't stop working and wait for a slower performance emulator that's months down the road.

No I don't work for Microsoft, sorry! I'm just an owner of a Pro X myself, so try to help others figure out issues when I can.

For CorelDraw, have you tried the 2020 32-bit version? I don't own the CorelDraw program, but it seems a 32bit version is available as the updates page has links for both 64bit and 32bit. But yes, it seems the 2021 version is 64bit only. My suggestion would be to run the 2020 version until this fall when the 64bit emulation is released, and then upgrade to the 2021 version. I can't seem to find a link to a trail version of any older version yet, so I haven't been able to try it myself yet.

Did you try Awning Composer? I downloaded version 5 evaluation and it seems to work no problem (it did warned me that the Adreno GPU might not be supported, but that didn't cause it to crash or anything). Maybe I'm looking at the wrong app... is it this? If so, according to the system requirements it'll run on any Windows OS from XP and newer (technically there was a 64bit version of XP, but it was pretty rare). If I am looking at the right app I have no idea why they would tell you it wouldn't work.

I have no idea if you can exchange your Pro X for a Pro 7. You'd probably need to contact their sales department. I'm sorry you didn't know about the limitations before you bought it! The reason I say it's not for everyone is Windows on ARM is still a pretty new ecosystem so it's not as widely supported by developers. But if you can live with the limitations I think it's a better device than the Pro 7 in many other ways.

Assuming you can't exchange it, you do have the option of switching your Pro X to the Insiders program to get access to the 64 bit emulation early, but I'd be wary of doing that unless you just can't wait, as the Insider builds of Windows can have other bugs that may cause you headaches. Just thought I'd mention it as an option.

Edit:

I found a trial of CorelDRAW 2020 on CNET (since Corel's site redirects all trial downloads to the 2021 version now). It seems to install and run just fine on my Pro X.