Microsoft Helps Surface Pro X Users Avoid Arm App Incompatibility Disappointment

However, one aspect of the Surface Pro X that has come under fire from reviewers (and those that plunked down at least $999) is app compatibility -- or rather, the lack thereof in many cases. This problem was confounded by the act that it wasn’t made clear in the Microsoft Store that the Surface Pro X is incompatible with a number of apps (specifically x86-64 apps).

Earlier this week, if someone who was new to the Windows 10 on Arm world were to obtain a Surface Pro X, the Microsoft Store would allow you to purchase apps that were in fact incompatible with the system. This should have been something that Microsoft could have easily avoided from the start by filtering out incompatible apps.

The folks over at Windows Central have noted that with Microsoft Store version 11911.1001.8.0, the folks from Redmond are doing a much better job of filtering out incompatible apps to prevent users from making unnecessary purchases and attempting to install apps that won't run at all. These incompatible apps won't show in search results, and they also won't be visible if you simply browse the store.

According to Windows Central, apps like Affinity Photo and Broforce that are incompatible (but previously were visible to Surface Pro X users) now don't appear at all. On the other hand, some apps like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas still show up even though they're incompatible. In other words, it's a work in progress, but shows that Microsoft is as least committed to making things less nerve racking for customers.

The Surface Pro X is capable of running 32-bit x86 apps in emulation mode, and can natively run apps that are compiled for ARM64. The device, however, under no circumstances can run 64-bit x86 apps.