Provide support for Windows / ARM64

[Gunther Roskams]

Hi,

I bought a new ARM64-based windows laptop, but it seems it doesn’t support the Illuminated could plugin in IntelliJ Community and in Webstorm.

I 'm not able to insert the license key when I install the ARM64 version of IntelliJ (or Webstorm) and installed the IC plugin.

Details hardware:

• Processor Snapdragon® X Elite - X1E78100 - Qualcomm® Oryon™ CPU, 3417 Mhz, 12 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s)
• System Type ARM64-based PC
• OS Name Microsoft Windows 11 Home
• Version 10.0.26100 Build 26100
• Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16,0 GB
• BIOS Mode UEFI

Many thanks for the support.

Kind regards,

Gunther R.

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[Scott Wells]

Hi. You're actually the first to ask for Windows/ARM64 support. With the new Surface devices hitting the market, I imagine you won't be the last, of course.

I believe that the licensing software used by IC2 already supports that hardware configuration. If so, I will likely attached a pre-release test build here and ask you to help confirm whether it works properly as I don't have such a machine in my test configurations, nor do I anticipate adding one in the short-term.

I'll see if I can put together a pre-release test build soon for you to try.

[Scott Wells]

I'm attaching a build of IC2 that is effectively 2.3.2.8 but with prospective support for Windows / ARM64. You can install it by downloading (but not extracting) the attached archive and using Settings | Plugins | Install plugin from disk (under the gear drop-down menu). Allow the IDE to restart and let me know whether things work properly on your new laptop or not. If not, I'll likely need to gather some diagnostic information from you.

[Gunther Roskams]

Hi Scott,

Thanks for your great and quick support. I donwloaded the attached file, and loaded the plugin into Webstorm. Works like a charm !!

Many thanks !!

Gunther

[Scott Wells]

Wonderful! I’ll plan to include that in the official builds starting with this week’s. Out of curiosity, how is the performance of Windows on ARM64? How is the compatibility for non-native apps? Obviously Apple did a great job with that switch via Rosetta 2. I’ve read mixed things about how Microsoft has done with the same challenge, but I’ve not heard from someone who is actually using it in the real world.

[Gunther Roskams]

Hi Scott,

I just installed it 2 days ago, so the period is a bit too short to give it a good assessment :)

• Performance wise, it feels like a big step forward.

• App support: I use some apps which already have support for ARM64 architecture (like the IntelliJ stack and of course Microsoft apps), but there are apps (like some packages from the Adobe Creative Cloud, some antivirus programs, my Nikon Photograph software), which don’t have ARM64 support yet. Illuminated Cloud was also one of these apps, until now :)

Greets,

Gunther

[Scott Wells]

Thanks for the info. My daily driver is a Surface Laptop 5, the latest in a long series of Surface devices that I’ve used. I absolutely love it, but I have to admit that I’m constantly in awe of the Mac Mini M1 that I use for testing IC2 on Mac. Based on what I’ve read about (this second take on) Windows on ARM, it’s supposed to bring similar gains to the Windows side of things. The big downside – again, based on reading and not real-world experience – is that it doesn’t seem that Microsoft has quite nailed the emulation side of things as well with Prism as Apple did with Rosetta 2. Rosetta 2 was able to run just about everything, albeit not as quickly as if it were native, whereas I’m hearing that Prism is much more hit-or-miss.

I’ll probably wait a few more months for native ARM binaries for their apps to become more broadly available, then look at perhaps getting the new ARM Surface Laptop as a successor for what I have now. But it’s certainly encouraging to hear that the JetBrains IDEs are working well for you already!

[Scott Wells]

Delivered in 2.3.2.9.