In a historic first, Microsoft releases Windows 11 24H2 Arm64 ISOs for direct download

Last month, Microsoft started teasing us that it’ll soon release ISOs for Windows on Arm on its general download page. The software giant didn’t specify a particular date for the release back then, keeping users guessing. Luckily, today marks the end of the guessing game, as Arm64 ISOs for Windows 11 24H2 go live for direct download.

You can now download Windows Arm ISOs, as you do for x64 versions of PCs

Up until now, one of the ways to download Windows on Arm ISOs was by becoming a Windows Insider. Since the ISOs were available only as VHDX files, you could only use them on virtual disks for virtual machines like Hyper-V, but not on physical Arm hardware. Alternatively, you could also get those ARM ISOs through third-party sources like UUP dump. However, with the latest Arm64 ISO release on Microsoft’s website, you no longer have any limitations that you faced previously and can feel confident that the ISOs are legitimate and secure.

Now that the first-ever Arm64 ISOs for Windows 11 24H2 are live for everyone, you can download it directly from Microsoft’s ISO download page and install it directly on Arm hardware, just like how you do for x64 versions of PCs. However, if you’re manually creating a bootable installation media to install Windows 11 on Arm, make sure to include drivers from the device manufacturer, as suggested by Microsoft.

Arm64 ISO for Windows 11 opens a whole new window of opportunity

While the availability of Arm64 ISOs may not necessarily indicate that we might soon see Arm-based custom PC builds, it’ll certainly make things a lot easier to test how Windows on Arm can run smoothly on a variety of Arm-based hardware. For example, if you’re an enthusiast or a hobbyist, you can now easily find the Arm64 ISO and install it on devices like Raspberry Pi and other single-board computers. Hopefully, we’ll see some fun projects in the coming days.

Related

5 things the Snapdragon X Elite needs to beat Apple Silicon

The Snapdragon X Elite has the potential to beat Apple Silicon, but there’s a lot that it needs to do first.