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The Windows PC industry has fallen into a rut over the past decade. Microsoft and its OEM partners routinely ship a range of new devices each year, mostly based on incremental speed increases in Intel processors. If you buy this year’s model, you get slightly better battery life and a modest increase in performance over last year’s vintage. Yawn.

This predictable pattern is why the just-released Copilot+ computers have so much potential. Yes, they run on Windows 11, but at the heart of them is a new engine, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series of Arm-based processors.

Also: Repairability of Microsoft’s new laptops amazes iFixit, sets a high bar for competitors

My Surface Pro 11 (I know its official name is “Surface Pro 11th Edition”, but let’s keep it simple, OK?) arrived last week. I deliberately ordered the cheapest configuration and had no idea what to expect. Yes it Must get better battery life than an Intel-based alternative, and all preliminary benchmarks suggest it will deliver impressive performance, but seeing is believing.

After a full week, I can say, without qualification: This machine is absolutely awesome.

My original plan was to use the new Surface Pro as a secondary mobile device while keeping my Dell Precision workstation on the desktop for my day-to-day work. I now use the new Surface Pro as a daily driver.

How did this happen? Let’s dive in.

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The experience is familiar

It’s a radical change to the Windows ecosystem, but it doesn’t feel all that different from its predecessors. In fact, it’s almost indistinguishable from the Intel-based Surface Pro 9 sitting on my desk next to it. The thin bezels around the displays of both devices are almost the same size. The new device, at 1.9 pounds, is the same weight as the Surface Pro 9 and a few ounces heavier than the Surface Pro X, though that’s not something you really notice until you have to lug it through airport while rushing to make a connection. The Type Cover from the older Surface Pro clicked into place on the Surface Pro 11, just as expected.

And as for the software, well… It’s Windows 11, which looks and acts the same on an Arm-based PC as it does on an Intel device.

Also: 7 ways to make Windows 11 less annoying

The big difference is that this next-gen device is extremely cool and quiet. After a three-hour Zoom call the other day, the chassis was barely warm; on an intel based machine it would be uncomfortably hot. There is a fan on the Surface Pro 11, but I have yet to hear it running, even under the most demanding conditions. And it’s extremely responsive, with none of the hesitation I sometimes noticed with the Surface Pro X. If you’ve used an M2-equipped MacBook Air, the feel will be familiar.

Of course, this new device also embodies everything you like and/or dislike about the Surface Pro design. If you’re expecting a radical change that will suddenly make your posture comfortable on your lap, I’m sorry to say you’re going to be disappointed. But if you’re comfortable with that design, this iteration will be completely familiar.

Battery life is a huge win

If the Arm architecture has a killer feature, it’s battery life. The Surface Pro X delivered the goods on that score, but did so at the cost of performance. This generation, on the other hand, increases battery life impressively and does so without any compromise in speed or responsiveness.

It’s still too early to make any definitive statements about how long this Surface Pro will let me work before I start looking for a place to plug it in. The first week with a new device is never typical, as it involves a lot of downloading, installing, configuring and futzing, which probably won’t be a regular thing.

Also: How to improve the battery life of your Windows laptop

But these actual usage numbers from a report generated by Windows Powercfg /battery report command, speak for themselves.

Averaging more than 10 hours of actual, observed battery life, this Surface Pro can run over twice as long as my Intel-based Surface Pro 9. That’s also at least as long as the M2 MacBook Air in my office.

Compatibility is good, but not perfect

For these Snapdragon X PCs, battery life is an unqualified success, but the compatibility story is more mixed.

Microsoft has been developing Windows on Arm for over a decade, and it’s remarkable how well most software just works on an Arm-based PC. If you do most of your work in a web browser and in Microsoft Office, you may never notice a difference. But there are still some rough edges, and you can expect some compatibility issues, especially when using older hardware or applications that require low-level system drivers.

Also: How to reset Windows 11 without losing your apps, files, and settings

On this computer, every pre-installed Microsoft application is natively compiled to run as native Arm64 code. This includes the Edge browser, the full collection of Microsoft 365 apps, and every conceivable Windows utility, from PowerShell to the registry editor to the calculator. Even the semi-official PowerToys collection installs in Arm64 mode. I installed a wide selection of progressive web applications that run in the Arm64 Edge environment and they all worked fine.

Basic x86 applications written for Intel-based machines installed mostly without any problems in the Windows on Arm emulation layer, and there was no apparent performance hit for the applications I tried, including my screen capture utility, SnagIt .

Many third-party developers have gone to the trouble of recompiling their applications for Arm64, and if you can find them, they are the preferred option. But you might have to do some digging. The default download for VLC Media Player, for example, is a 64-bit x86 version, but nightly builds are available for Arm64 machines. Likewise, the normal download options for 1Password will get you the x86 version, which is seamless, but there’s a preview of the Arm64 version if you know where to look.

Also: Best Password Managers 2024: Tested by Experts

But I’m not sure what to make of Adobe, which tweeted earlier this year that it was “excited to announce that your favorite Adobe apps are coming to Copilot+ PCs.” What does that even mean? Photoshop has been available in an Arm64 version for three years, albeit with significant limitations, but I can’t find a native Arm version of Acrobat. Maybe Adobe just means that the x86 versions are certified to run in emulation mode? Who knows.

And then there’s Google, which finally released an Arm64 native version of Chrome in April. Hooray! But you won’t find any version of the Google Drive desktop sync client running on a Copilot+ PC. If you try to install the x86 version, you get this nasty error message:

So if you’re a verified Google Drive user and want your cloud-based storage to integrate with File Explorer, you’ll have to stick with Intel-based machines for now. Or maybe switch to OneDrive.

The most important compatibility issues occur when you try to install an application that requires custom drivers for low-level network and file system access. Most commercial VPNs, including Proton VPN and ExpressVPN, will refuse to run on Windows on Arm for this reason; try Wireguard or Viscosity instead. And if you insist on running a third-party antivirus application, you’re likely to be disappointed. (Spoiler: you probably don’t need it.)

Also: Best VPN for Windows: Expertly Tested and Reviewed

I had no hardware issues to speak of. My 10 year old Logitech C930 webcam just started working. So did my trusty Brother laser printer and Scanner ScanSnap x1600. I connected the Surface Pro 11 to a StarTech Thunderbolt 4/USB4 docking station and everything worked exactly as it should.

Your mileage may vary, of course, especially if you have exotic hardware like video capture cards and old multifunction printers that require custom driver packages and won’t work with Windows’ built-in drivers. Fortunately, I don’t have any of those.

The history of AI is incomplete

Each computer in the Copilot+ line includes a powerful neural processing engine designed to accelerate AI-based activities. Because I didn’t fall in love with Microsoft’s expensive new product Flexible keyboard and stuck with my old Type Cover, didn’t get a special Copilot key. Instead, I had to run the Copilot app, which works just like any other Windows 11 PC. If it chatted faster, I didn’t notice.

Also: I tried Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Copilot+ and it beat my MacBook Air in 3 ways

And of course, what was supposed to be the flagship feature on these new PCs, Recall, was pulled at the last minute due to security concerns and will be available as a Windows Insider Preview feature later this year.

Some of the app-based AI features were more useful. The Surface Pro 11’s front-facing camera is one of the best I’ve ever seen on a laptop, and the AI-based Studio Effects (which are accessible from the Quick Settings menu in the taskbar) include some useful options like auto-framing and tracking the eyes. The Neural Processing Unit helps the background blur options look more natural than with a conventional camera.

The Paint and Photos apps are also loaded with AI-based image creation and editing features. Options to remove background distractions and use blur effects to simulate portrait mode were useful; the style options that transform a photo into an alternate style (impressionist, anime, etc.) look gimmicky.

The real question is whether these features are powerful enough to make you switch from your current image processing tool to one of Microsoft’s built-in options. History says that’s a pretty big ask.

Even if you avoid AI features altogether, though, there’s more than enough power in this budget PC. And as long as your applications and hardware requirements aren’t exotic, you’ll appreciate its cool and quiet operation.