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I have been asking this question for some time now without a viable answer.
When I was convinced to buy this item, it came with a promise of 64bit emulator being very soon to follow, however this is now eight months later and still no idea how long we will have to wait.
I know that the emulator is currently available on the insider program, but all indicators are that its even more buggy than the somewhat limited 32bit emulator.
I'm surprised that Microsoft have not resolved the issues with this device as it would seem that they intend to peruse ARM technology in many future devices.
If the current state of play continues it could spell out disaster for this platform.
I have to say that there have been many updates for the pro x and it has improved over time, however many bugs and issues still remain and customer support for the pro x is at best very poor with the staff having little knowledge of the technical issues found on a daily basis.
Customer services have so far bricked the device on three occasions requiring hours of reloading and total loss of all data and without resolving the original problem (don't let them reset your device or set up phantom accounts) this doesn't work and creates more problems.
I have to say that given the choice again this device would not be on my shopping list.
The recent updates have made improvements and the device is now more stable than it was but without 64bit bug free emulator its very limited, Great looks and feel but don't judge the book by its cover,
If you intend to use only store apps and basic 32bit programs for surfing and emailing all is good, but for any serious use it fails badly at present, which is truly a shame as the device has great potential but is poorly supported from my own personal experience.
At present its only a little above windows other failed ARM devices using RT which of course is no longer supported.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
All I see here is x32 and thats my whole point its 2021 guys 32bit is no longer supported and yet MS promises of 64 bit are too slow in arriving.
There is almost no external ARM for windows software its all from the store only if I wanted only 32bit I could buy an old Windows tablet for a few pounds on ebay this is not what I would expect from an expense new device.
If the current situation remains it will be effectively an RT.
Yes its not locked to the store but it may as well be as that is almost the only source of ARM 64 apps.
32bit is dead memory limited and considerably slower than 64bit.
If as I suspect you use only store software then maybe the pro x is OK
I don't download or play games on my pro x i use it only for serious purposes and 64 bit is a must.
The pro x has improved with newer builds at least reducing system crashes and for basic browsing and so on its working mostly OK.
I'm not against the device just the way in which it was and is marketed as I use the MS help me choose entered all requirements and was sold the pro x with after a phone call the promise of 64 bit emulsion being availability from Jan 2021, however recent conversations with support cant or won't acknowledge if or when this will happen.
All this leads to my disappointment with this device.
I am aware that many MS supporters praise the pro x and ask myself if they are misleading themselves, I say this as if this emulator never arrives and with no external ARM software and only the now dead 32bit emulator will this device end up as a almost RT device, After all any device is only as good as the software on it.
So sorry to all its fans but for a serious user its extremely lacking.
No, I have not tried to instill 64-bit MS Office as the 32-bit version fits my needs. To be honest, the only reason I purchased the SPX (SQ2, 16 ram, 512 ssd) is because it cost $650US (63% discount from the full retail price). I already own a SP7, so I just need it to do a limited number of things that a high-end Samsung Galaxy tablet can't do.
That said, I have been pleasantly surprised with how much I like the device over my SP7. Build quality, screen brightness, battery life, and speakers are all better. Also, the slightly larger screen and thinner width real do make a difference. Note-taking and annotating documents/academic articles are far more enjoyable on the SPX than on my SP7...
You have provided no specific example to anything you have stated. "Buggy" is not an example. "Somewhat limited" is not an example. "Staff having limited knowledge" is not an example. "Brick the device" is not an example. "More stable" is not an example. Hence, I have to question if you actually own a SPX.
After instilling the x64 bit emulator on my SPX, I'm now able to run my statistical software (SPSS and R-studio). Edge Canary Browser, MS Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote), Zoom, PDF annotating apps (e.g., Drawboard PDF), and Snapdrop all work great. So far, BatteryBar is the only app I regularly use that doesn't work.
The downside is that battery life has declined from 11.5-12 hours of continuous YouTube viewing (40% brightness, battery saver on) to 9.5-10 hours. Finally, Surface products are for white-collar professionals, not gamers, video/photo editors, or YouTuber tech reviewers.
UPDATE: After uninstalling the "KB5003266" update, battery life has returned to 11.5-12 hours...
@MSP2020 , did you manage to install 64-bit MS Office in x64 emulator? In reviews from December2020 it was mentioned as impossible to install. I have SPX, but because of work, I prefer to wait for official release of x64 emulator than install Preview Builds due to frequent restarts.
My experience with SPX is great, but, as stressed by many of you, if there is specific x64 app you absolutely need AND there is no x32 version of it, don't buy SPX. I even managed to work on video with Shotcut x32, even if it doesn't see Adreno GPU acceleration.
SPSS exists for x32. Microsoft Visual Studio is still x32 software, until version 2022.
With Java apps I found OpenJDK Java 16 compiled for ARM64 by Microsoft on Github. MSFT will also port it to M1 ARM64 Mac. Most of the stuff works for my PMOD 4.2 for OpenJDK 11 (www.pmod.com), when you just substitute jre folder with the one from Microsoft. Still there is some stuff written specifically for architecture, so it doesn't work there.
From x64 software I need, there is still Mathematica 12.2 and Matlab. Mathematica installs in WSL2 in Ubuntu Linux, but its kernel is architecture specific, so it doesn't start.
Yesterday I managed to install Docker on WSL2 with Ubuntu and run first container. Hopefully Matlab in container will work.
Lunux got GUI official support in WSL2 in Preview builds for x64, so I hope this will be here in 21H1 update also in ARM64.
I had hardware problem with SPX, it was rebooting silently if charger was connected in sleep mode in about 30% cases. I passed it to service, they confirmed it and I got a new one in about 10 days altogether. I also bought 4 years warranty extension. So don't buy SPX from doubtful sources.
I am university professor, so bought SPX due to weight AND battery life. There always will be a surprise. I have USB-C extension for RGB and HDMI displays and this thing is 15W! You can work on SPX only about 4 hours in such setup. I don't have USB-C monitor...
Somehow I knew your post would end with iPad Pro. There is a reason why:
-iPads market share has dropped from 80% to 33% over the past decade.
-Android tablets enjoy twice the market share of iPads.
-Apple came out with "magic" keyboard to make iPads more Surface Pro-like.
-You don't see people using iPads a professional conferences/trainings.
-You don't see people using iPads in airports or coffee shops.
-You don't see people using iPads in university or public libraries.
-You don't see people using iPad in graduate school classrooms.
-iPads are popular with elementary schools and senior citizens.
Facts are iPads' are not computers so functionality is extremely limited outside of watching YouTube, browsing the internet, photo/video editing. And people who do photo/video editing for a living use laptops or desktops, not iPads...
