Top 5 weekly: easier Windows updates, Qualcomm vs. Arm, and more

It’s the final weekend before Halloween is here! Are you doing anything for the season? Whether you’ve been busy planning your spooky parties or getting your costume ready, there has been plenty

going on in the tech world to report on. As such, here are the top five news pieces you may have missed for the past week.

Even more ways to get Windows 11 on older hardware

While Microsoft has been hard at work shutting down routes to install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware, third-party tools have still been giving people the option to make the upgrade. For a little while, it seemed that Rufus would be the only app that could do the job. Fortunately, this week saw the release of Flyby11 which aims to do a similar job. It’s always good to have alternate apps, in case the developer of one loses interest in the project.

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Installing Windows isn’t as hard as it once was, and using Rufus makes it even easier

Things will likely settle down though

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With Qualcomm and Arm working so closely together, you’d be forgiven for thinking that there’s no bad blood between them. However, behind office doors, the pair will sometimes have a spat over how things are being done. After Qualcomm purchased the company Nuvia, the two companies got into a disagreement with one another, which led to Arm initializing a license cancellation. Qualcomm now has 8 weeks to come up with an agreement, but given how closely the pair usually work, there’s a good chance they’ll resolve the issue between them.

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Surface Laptop 7 15 review: You don’t have to wait for Windows on Arm to get good anymore

It does most things right

macOS Stequoia

Would you use an operating system on a Steam Deck where everything is permanently in portrait mode? If not, it’s likely best that you watch someone install macOS on a Steam Deck instead of doing it yourself. One YouTuber achieved this feat after many headaches and issues, but he got it to the point where he could load up music software and play a tune he made on the Deck. Still, you’re better off with SteamOS this time.

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Things are looking promising

Do you find Windows updates a pain in the backside to install? Here’s some good news for you; Microsoft is working on a new update method in Windows 11 24H2 that reduces the time and resource usage needed to get the job done. The in-house tests are promising, with the Redmond giant reporting a 45.6% faster update time and 15.3% less CPU usage when carrying out a typical update. We’ll have to see if we can see similar figures when the new update technology rolls out.

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Windows 11 24H2 is a big download — here’s how to stop Windows updates from slowing down your internet

Windows Updates can be a pain, but you can change that

Windows on Arms fans can’t stop winning

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Finally, we have Windows on Arm going strength to strength once again. XDA editor João Carrasqueira did an excellent job reporting on why Windows on Arm is now an even bigger deal than it was before, so I’ll let him do the talking:

Compared to the Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processors, which are still behind the first-gen Oryon CPUs in single-core performance, the next generation of Oryon can deliver 62% faster single-core performance than the Intel Core Ultra 7 256V at the same power level of about 6W. To match that performance of the 2nd-gen oryon processor, the Intel processor needs to use 190% more power, meaning nearly three times more.

But Qualcomm is also improving massively upon the first generation of Oryon. Comparing the performance curves, we see that the second-generation CPU can deliver 30% more performance at the same power level, while using 57% less power to match the peak performance of the current generation.

Phew – that’s a lot of percentages. With Arm going strength-to-strength and Intel faltering, we may see this alternate architecture become the new norm – that is if it stops fighting with Qualcomm.

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How does x86 translation work on Windows on Arm?

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