Brave browser gets unofficial ARM64 support for Surface Pro X
Windows 10 on ARM may soon have a third native browser optimized for performance.
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One of the neat things about browsers based on the open-source Chromium project is anyone – with the right skills and time – can recompile a browser. That’s the case with Window MVP developerJeremy Sinclairwho has effectively merged Microsoft’s ARM64 Chromium libraries with Brave.
For a refresher, Brave is one of the latest Chromium-based browsers to hit the market. Launching officially in November 2019 (seeour review) the team behind Brave is focused heavilyon privacy and security. Brave has built-in ad and tracking prevention and other features that make it attractive to those who prefer something familiar but different.
Dear@braveand Windows On ARM community,TAAAADDDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯#ARM64#WindowsI told y’all I was gonna do it.pic.twitter.com/f3szfPWTL1Dear@braveand Windows On ARM community,TAAAADDDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯💯#ARM64#WindowsI told y’all I was gonna do it.pic.twitter.com/f3szfPWTL1— Jeremy Sinclair (@sinclairinat0r)February 16, 2020February 16, 2020
Sinclair recompiled Brave (version 1.6.33) with ARM64 libraries so that it can run natively on Windows 10 on ARM PCs like the newSurface Pro X. Sinclair shared the files with us, and indeed, it not only runs but is exceptionally fast too.
While this build of Brave is not yet for the public, the good news is Sinclair is passing on his work to the Brave team. Considering most of the work is now done, there is a good chance an official version could be made available in the foreseeable future. We’ll, of course, keep following the story.
For now, there is still Microsoft’snew Edge browsercompiled for ARM64 and evenFirefox has a version in testing. Ironically, Google itself has still not budged on making a version for ARM64 despite having the code available.
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Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer,podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.
