The developers of Files, the Alternative file explorer for Windows 10 and 11, and undoubtedly one of the best third-party applications for Microsoft’s system, they have managed to port the application to ARM64.
To achieve this they have used nothing more and nothing less than the famous Lumia 950 XL, one of Microsoft’s most emblematic mobiles and that He is currently closer to a paperweight than a mobile, since not even WhatsApp is possible to use in it.
This is the kind of love Windows needs on ARM
This weekend I helped port over the incredible @FilesForWindows app to ARM64 without any x86 / x64 component left! App runs so much faster. Pull request is done and is waiting for merge. Also got a nice .NET 6 upgrade for the broker. All tested on a 950 XL pic.twitter.com/xEO7xPMAcK
– Gustave Monce (@ gus33000) November 14, 2021
Both Windows Phone and Windows 10 Mobile are one of the most resounding failures of Microsoft, which has never been able to enter the mobile market due to more attempts it has made. The Lumia 950 XL despite being an excellent device always had Windows playing against it.
However, there are people who can still take advantage of it in another way: as a development platform, after all, it is a device on which Windows 10 and 11 ARM can be used. Microsoft may have abandoned it, but the smartphone refuses to die.
Already in June 2021 it had been possible to run full Windows 11 on it. The one responsible for that feat, the developer Gustave Monce, has been the same one who has helped the Files team to port the explorer to Windows 11 ARM, and they have tested everything on the Lumia 950.
Gustave explains from his Twitter that there is not a single x86 / x64 component left and the application runs much faster. This kind of dedicated work is just what a platform like Windows 11 ARM needs if Microsoft is to be truly competitive.