Prism Emulation Software for ARM does not work with our Company's Software

Question

We have customers who own computers with Windows 11 for the ARM processor. They are using the Prism Emulation Software to run Windows 11 software. Our software is failing to install on these computers, even with the Windows 11 - 24H2 update for ARM.

According to Google: While Windows 11 on ARM supports emulation for both x86 and x64 applications, it doesn’t always work reliably. This emulation is handled automatically by the operating system using the new Prism engine (included in the Windows 11 - 24H2 update). Prism translates x86/x64 code to ARM64 instructions, but performance and compatibility can vary, and apps requiring custom drivers or kernel-mode access may not function properly.

We do not have a Windows 11 ARM version yet, but we are looking to see if there is anything that can be done on the Microsoft side of Prism until we are able to release the ARM version of our software. I don't know what drivers are in conflict. This is a huge issue.

For reference, our customers running the Rosetta Emulation software for macOS M1-M3 chips have no issues.

Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi @Kedarnath My boss will be contacting you.

Answer 2

What is the exact software application(s) you’re trying to install or run on your Windows on ARM laptop? This will help us check compatibility and see if there are known limitations or workarounds for those specific programs.

Thanks!

Answer 3

Hi K EVANS,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

I'm sorry to hear that you're in such a troublesome position — when customers buy Windows on Arm PCs and your installer fails under Prism emulation, it definitely puts you in a tough spot. Your research is correct: while Microsoft's Prism emulator in Windows 11 24H2 for ARM has significantly improved x64 emulation performance, it has specific limitations that Rosetta 2 doesn't face to the same degree.

There are some paths you can take while you work on a native build. In particular, Microsoft provides a Program Compatibility Troubleshooter with emulation-specific settings that may help. They can improve compatibility for apps that fail to install or crash under default emulation:

• Right-click your installer .exe > Properties > Compatibility tab.
• Select Change emulation settings > Check Use advanced settings
• Try toggling the options as described in Program Compatibility Troubleshooter on Arm | Microsoft Learn, such as:
  • Disable hybrid execution mode
  • Strict self-modifying code support
  • Disable RWX page optimization
  • Floating point emulation (x87)

In addition, you can engage Microsoft’s App Assure team, who specifically covers Windows 11 on Arm and has helped vendors ship Arm‑optimized versions. They will work with you to diagnose and remediate Windows on Arm issues. You can request help at App Assure with Microsoft FastTrack 

Prism significantly improves compatibility/performance, but apps that require custom drivers or kernel access still need native Arm64 components. Until your Arm64 (or Arm64EC) build is ready, in the meantime, you can mix up native Arm64 driver + Arm64EC host + existing x64 plug‑ins:

• Arm64EC lets you mix Arm64 and existing x64 code in one process so you can port performance‑critical or low‑level components first, while leaving non‑critical modules as x64 under Prism.
• If your app exposes plug‑ins/middleware to both x64 and Arm64 processes, consider Arm64X PE Files | Microsoft Learn

While we can't directly modify Prism at the moment, ongoing Windows 11 updates are designed to improve emulation. For now, developing a native Arm64 version of your app remains the most reliable long-term solution. You can also set some expectations: let your customers know their app will run on Arm if it doesn’t require a custom driver, but any driver-dependent features will need an Arm64 driver update.

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