ARM64 Windows build

[Martin T]

If I run the standard Windows install on https://subsurface-divelog.org/current-release/?lang=en will the installer detect that I am running on a laptop with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor and automatically install an ARM64 binary, and not the x86-64/AMD64-version?

[Michael Keller]

Hi Martin.

On Tue, 7 Oct 2025 at 12:18, Martin T <mart...@gmail.com> wrote:

If I run the standard Windows install on https://subsurface-divelog.org/current-release/?lang=en will the installer detect that I am running on a laptop with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor and automatically install an ARM64 binary, and not the x86-64/AMD64-version?

From what I can tell we are currently building the Windows version for x86_64 only - so I guess this makes the answer to this a 'no':

https://github.com/subsurface/subsurface/blob/31bfd0a72e3f5746549ac4fb539ca151745b0d9b/scripts/docker/mxe-build-container/Dockerfile#L87 

But according to Microsoft's documentation the provided x86_64 binary should still be able to run on your ARM64 machine:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/arm/overview

Ngā mihi

  Michael Keller

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5? X R tv b++ DI++ D++ G e+++ h---- r+++ y+++

[Martin T]

Hi Michael!

Yes, Subsurface seems to work well on my Surface Pro (11th ed with ARM). Just that I normally prefer running native code if that is possible and available. Also my HP OmniBook X uses ARM, so it seems to be likely part of the future also on Windows laptops. Love the combination of strong performance and really long battery life (even though it will be a little bit shorter when running non-native code as Subsurface)! 

How is it on the Mac side? 

I will try to install Subsurface on my 2019 MacBook Air (M1), and check myself eventually, but if any native build for ARM is ready, I prefer that over emulation/Rosetta.

[Michael Keller]

Hi Martin.

On 10/10/25 00:46, Martin T wrote:
> Yes, Subsurface seems to work well on my Surface Pro (11th ed with
> ARM). Just that I normally prefer running native code if that is
> possible and available. Also my HP OmniBook X uses ARM, so it seems to
> be likely part of the future also on Windows laptops. Love the
> combination of strong performance and really long battery life (even
> though it will be a little bit shorter when running non-native code as
> Subsurface)!
>
> How is it on the Mac side?

Not much better, unfortunately. At the moment the piece de resistance
for Subsurface is Qt5, which does not offer support for ARM (outside of
mobile). There have been efforts to move Subsurface to Qt6, but they got
stalled, like https://github.com/subsurface/subsurface/pull/4302


Ngā mihi

  Michael Keller