'Project Volterra': Microsoft is building an Arm dev kit on the Snapdragon compute platform

'Project Volterra': Credit Microsoft

Microsoft is working on a new Windows-on-Arm dev kit powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon compute platform that will allow Windows developers to build Arm-native apps. Codenamed "Project Volterra," the dev kit, coming sometime later this year, will allow developers to use coming Arm-native versions of Microsoft dev tools to build apps -- especially apps that handle AI processing on the device.

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Microsoft announced Volterra on Day 1 of its virtual Build 2022 developers conference on May 24, hoping to generate more excitement around its Windows on Arm (WoA) platform. Microsoft has been working on Windows on Arm for years, but there are still few (if any) compelling PCs and devices running on it. Qualcomm isn't expected to field a respectable WoA processor for PCs until the second half of 2023.

Microsoft officials talked about Volterra in the context of "intelligent hybrid compute" -- the idea that local compute on devices will make use of local CPUs, GPUs and Neural Processing Units (NPUs) in conjunction with Azure for cloud compute. Officials said they ultimately expect to see NPUs built into "most, if not all, future computing devices." Earlier this year, Microsoft showed off a number of AI-powered features coming to Windows 11, including Voice Clarity, Consistent Eye Contact and Automatic Framing -- all of which will only work on PCs with NPUs built-in.

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