Linux arrives on laptops for Windows on ARM with Snapdragon CPU
Linux has long been executable on ARM architecture, but the first real laptops with ARM CPUs have arrived thanks to Windows: some developers are now making sure that they can also be used with Linux.
The advent of the first laptops equipped with ARM architecture processors, and the Windows on ARM operating system led to the availability of the first real laptops equipped with good computing power and good build quality. With the arrival of Windows could not miss the attempt to run Linux, a company that seems successful for a limited number of products now able to start Ubuntu thanks to the project AArch64 Laptop.
As reported by Phoronix, prebuilt images of Ubuntu are available for ASUS NovaGo TP370QL, HP Envy x2 and Lenovo Mixx 630. Not all features are available and not all devices are working: for example, on the ASUS laptop the touchpad, WiFi, local storage in UFS and accelerated graphics are not working.
The main advantage of products with ARM processor is certainly given by the battery life: the ASUS TP370QL offers up to 22 hours of battery life, the HP Envy x2 up to 19 hours, the Lenovo Mixx 630 up to 20 hours. Unavoidable numbers for products with x86 processor.
The availability of Linux on these products protects them from any abandonment of support from Microsoft, as has already happened with Windows RT, but also gives the possibility to expand the choice in the park of machines used by users of the Penguin.
In addition, the use of Linux could provide better performance than Windows, as well as a wider choice of native applications. Although support is currently incomplete, due to the initial stage of the project, there should be progress over the next few months.
Further information is available on the GitHub repositories: find information on installation at this address and on the compilation of the sources and the contribution to the project on this page.
