I used it when running Windows on an M1 Macbook Air when I still had that. NVDA ran just fine. Biggest problem I had was getting the caps lock to work as NVDA key, but that was a Mac OS and UTM issue, not a Windows or NVDA issue. If I were you, I'd go for the new ARM device.
and have been feeling quite concerned. It seems like most of the responses I've seen are from people using Windows on Apple machines. I'm wondering if there are others who might have insights or experiences with other hardware? Any advice or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated.
ARM is ARM, whether that be Apple hardware or some other company hardware, it is still the same. Dare I say, it will probably run even better, as Windows won't be fighting over resources with Mac OS, so you'll have full system resources, so it will be more than fine. You are unlikely to find many people who can tell you about NVDA on other ARM devices, because before these that just came out, they were few and far between, and most were rather underwhelming, but this new set of chips they have released are definite game changers.
I am 90% sure that these devices would be amazing to use, but I would strongly suggest you to wait till these machines hit the store shelfs, so that you could visit and get a hands-on feel for yourself. Some stores will allow you to test out whatever software you want as well. Using Windows on Mac is not exactly the same. You want to see how good is audio responce, any delays or cutting out of sounds, which happens on even some X86 laptops.
If stores don't allow, you wait till someone else to post an online review, or a statement from NVAccess, or you see it working for any of your friends.
I am not putting my money on untested, unprooven, nonreturnable hardware.
In addition to the above post, if you are able to test out a machine in your local neighborhood computer store, you can use a portable copy of NVDA to check out how responsive the audio will be with these ARM chipsets. Just explain to the sales rep that you have a particular need, and that the software you are testing will not install anything to the model, but simply run from the thumbdrive.
Thanks, guys, for the replies.
I'm a little bit more positive now that I know some of you tested ARM Windows with good experiences.
I was reading the NVDA repository, and I learned that the experience is not native or something similar, and I was concerned about the performance.
I'll go try it in a store next week before buying it.
Finally, I bought a Surface Laptop 7 from the Microsoft Store because they offer a 60-day return policy if you aren't satisfied.
Here's a list of my first thoughts:
• Obviously, Narrator is still working, and you can do the full setup process without help.
• The system is so fast.
• I'm using Office, Teams, Edge, Firefox, and Slack beta for ARM. All work super fast.
• Until now, 0 problems with NVDA.
• The only point that I dislike is that battery use is not as expected or as I read on Reddit. I think that it's because NVDA is not a native ARM app.
Changes made:
Personally I will wait on ARM until gaming support. I'm a nerd like that. Regarding NVDA have you tried using both the portable version and an installed version?
Comments
It works fine.
I used it when running Windows on an M1 Macbook Air when I still had that. NVDA ran just fine. Biggest problem I had was getting the caps lock to work as NVDA key, but that was a Mac OS and UTM issue, not a Windows or NVDA issue. If I were you, I'd go for the new ARM device.
Yes, it works fine. I use it…
Yes, it works fine. I use it daily under parallels. I am tempted to get one of the new Windows laptops running a RM
Works fine
for me too. Vmware Fusion on mac.
I'm in a similar situation
and have been feeling quite concerned. It seems like most of the responses I've seen are from people using Windows on Apple machines. I'm wondering if there are others who might have insights or experiences with other hardware? Any advice or shared experiences would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!
It really shouldn't matter.
ARM is ARM, whether that be Apple hardware or some other company hardware, it is still the same. Dare I say, it will probably run even better, as Windows won't be fighting over resources with Mac OS, so you'll have full system resources, so it will be more than fine. You are unlikely to find many people who can tell you about NVDA on other ARM devices, because before these that just came out, they were few and far between, and most were rather underwhelming, but this new set of chips they have released are definite game changers.
I would strongly suggest you wait
I am 90% sure that these devices would be amazing to use, but I would strongly suggest you to wait till these machines hit the store shelfs, so that you could visit and get a hands-on feel for yourself. Some stores will allow you to test out whatever software you want as well. Using Windows on Mac is not exactly the same. You want to see how good is audio responce, any delays or cutting out of sounds, which happens on even some X86 laptops.
If stores don't allow, you wait till someone else to post an online review, or a statement from NVAccess, or you see it working for any of your friends.
I am not putting my money on untested, unprooven, nonreturnable hardware.
In addition
In addition to the above post, if you are able to test out a machine in your local neighborhood computer store, you can use a portable copy of NVDA to check out how responsive the audio will be with these ARM chipsets. Just explain to the sales rep that you have a particular need, and that the software you are testing will not install anything to the model, but simply run from the thumbdrive.
HTH. 🙂
Thanks
Thanks, guys, for the replies.
I'm a little bit more positive now that I know some of you tested ARM Windows with good experiences.
I was reading the NVDA repository, and I learned that the experience is not native or something similar, and I was concerned about the performance.
I'll go try it in a store next week before buying it.
Update!
Finally, I bought a Surface Laptop 7 from the Microsoft Store because they offer a 60-day return policy if you aren't satisfied.
Here's a list of my first thoughts:
• Obviously, Narrator is still working, and you can do the full setup process without help.
• The system is so fast.
• I'm using Office, Teams, Edge, Firefox, and Slack beta for ARM. All work super fast.
• Until now, 0 problems with NVDA.
• The only point that I dislike is that battery use is not as expected or as I read on Reddit. I think that it's because NVDA is not a native ARM app.
Changes made:
That sounds v positive
But seeing as my SL4 is still working OK, I am going to wait for black Friday and hopefully get a bit off or a better one for less.
Glad to hear its working for you.
Personally I will wait on ARM until gaming support. I'm a nerd like that. Regarding NVDA have you tried using both the portable version and an installed version?
Might give different results, just a thought. 🙂🤷