Published on: September 8, 2024
ExpressVPN has announced a major milestone in its commitment to user protection by becoming one of the first top-tier VPNs to support Microsoft’s AI-focused Copilot+ PC laptops. This breakthrough allows users to enjoy full ExpressVPN protection on Microsoft’s cutting-edge Copilot+ PCs, which are powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips.
ExpressVPN’s engineers have developed a new ARM application compatible with Microsoft’s Copilot+ PCs, which utilize Snapdragon chips to run artificial intelligence (AI) features without draining battery life. The Copilot+ PCs, named after Microsoft’s AI chatbot, Copilot, represent the tech giant’s move towards integrating AI more seamlessly into personal computing.
“When Copilot+ devices launched several months ago, virtually none of the top VPN apps could be used on them, including ExpressVPN,” the company explained in its announcement. “But we knew that we couldn’t leave this new product category unprotected, so our engineers went to work. And today, we’re proud to announce an ExpressVPN ARM application that is up to our exacting standards.”
The launch of Microsoft’s ARM-based Copilot+ PCs created a challenge for many software providers, as most existing software for Windows was initially built for Intel processors, not ARM. While ExpressVPN initially planned to create an ARM-native application, the team pivoted after assessing Microsoft’s advancements in ARM emulation.
“With the release of Microsoft’s new Prism emulator in the recent Windows 11 24H2 upgrade, the ARM emulator technology reached a stage where emulated app quality would be directly comparable to a native build,” ExpressVPN noted. Microsoft describes Prism as “as efficient as Apple’s Rosetta 2 translation layer,” and claims it “can emulate apps twice as fast as the previous generation of Windows on ARM devices.”
Leveraging this new technology, ExpressVPN engineers opted for a hybrid semi-native approach, which involved completely rebuilding the driver for their patented Lightway protocol to work seamlessly with ARM machines, while using Prism to emulate other services such as the user interface (UI) and backend. This strategy enabled ExpressVPN to deliver a high-quality experience on Copilot+ PCs without the lengthy development time that a fully native ARM app would require.
“This hybrid semi-native approach means ExpressVPN users get the best of both worlds—the full security of our premium VPN service and a far more condensed development time,” ExpressVPN explained.
ExpressVPN for Copilot+ PCs is now available for download from the Windows VPN download page. This release marks a significant achievement for ExpressVPN, which continues to innovate and adapt to new technological advancements to ensure users’ online safety and privacy.