“Project Volterra” review: Microsoft’s $600 Arm PC that almost doesn’t suck - Ars Technica

Enlarge / Microsoft's Windows Dev Kit 2023 is meant to get the Arm mentation of Windows into the hands of much developers.

Andrew Cunningham

Microsoft has released 2 caller systems based connected Qualcomm's Arm processors lately. The first, a 5G version of the Surface Pro 9, has mostly been panned by reviewers, with bundle compatibility being a large symptom constituent adjacent aft 2 generations of the Arm-powered Surface Pro X. The 2nd is the $600 Windows Dev Kit 2023, formerly known by the overmuch cooler sanction "Project Volterra," and it's expected to assistance lick that bundle problem.

Microsoft has tried doing Arm Windows developer boxes before—namely, the $219 ECS LIVA QC710 it began selling astir a twelvemonth agone (it's nary longer for sale, astatine slightest not done Microsoft's store). But with its 4GB of memory, 64GB of pokey storage, and underpowered Snapdragon 7c processor, utilizing it was similar revisiting the atrocious netbook days. Maybe you could get immoderate basal browsing done connected it. But existent work, adjacent for idiosyncratic similar maine who chiefly works with substance and medium-resolution photos each day? Nope.

The Dev Kit 2023 is astir 3 times arsenic expensive, but the hardware is almighty capable that it mostly conscionable feels similar a emblematic midrange mini-desktop successful day-to-day use. Freed from the limitations of cruddy hardware, the instrumentality makes it overmuch easier to measure Windows-on-Arm's remaining software limitations. For this review, we won't beryllium utilizing it arsenic a developer box, but it does springiness america a bully accidental to measure wherever the Windows-on-Arm task is close now, some successful hardware and software—especially comparative to the Mac, the different hardware and bundle ecosystem that is making a overmuch cleaner, wider-ranging, and much graceful modulation from x86 bundle to Arm.

A Surface successful each but name

Microsoft isn't selling the Dev Kit arsenic a Surface device, due to the fact that it's not meant to beryllium a instrumentality for mundane PC users. There's plentifulness of Surface successful its DNA, however.

That starts with its design. It's a substantial-feeling hunk of achromatic integrative implicit a metallic framework with a Microsoft logo imprinted connected the top; it's smaller than a Mac mini (which, if you're not familiar, has had the aforesaid carnal dimensions for 12 years), but if Microsoft had acceptable retired to marque a Surface-branded Mac mini clone, it astir apt wouldn't look overmuch different.

One crushed the instrumentality is smaller is that it uses a 90 W outer powerfulness brick, whereas the Mac mini's powerfulness proviso is wrong the enclosure. That flows from the mode Microsoft seems to person enactment unneurotic the Dev Kit—the Mac mini's internals were designed specifically for their enclosure, portion the Dev Kit appears to beryllium rather virtually a Surface Pro 9 with 5G motherboard with a lawsuit built astir it. In that way, it's little similar the Mac mini and much similar the Apple Silicon "Developer Transition Kit," which adapted iPad Pro-ish innards for a Mac mini-shaped case.

The astir evident giveaway is simply a clump of unused connectors that are disposable astatine the top-right of the committee erstwhile you region the bottommost of the Dev Kit—these would beryllium utilized to thrust a show and different interior peripherals successful a Surface instrumentality but spell unused successful the Dev Kit. The 2 USB-C ports (again, a Surface holdover, with identical positioning and abstraction betwixt them) are the lone ones built into the board, portion the Ethernet port, USB-A ports, mini DisplayPort, and powerfulness jack connected the backmost are each built into a abstracted board. (That it's a Surface Pro clone besides means that the Dev Kit has nary headphone jack.) Firmware and operator updates pulled down from Windows Update are besides Surface-branded.

The Dev Kit tin link to up to 3 monitors astatine erstwhile utilizing its mini DisplayPort and USB-C ports, and up to 2 of those tin beryllium 60 Hz 4K displays (refresh rates faster than 60 Hz are disposable astatine little resolutions, but 60 Hz does look to beryllium the hard headdress astatine 4K). Microsoft says that the DisplayPort is the 1 you should usage for the superior display, and it's the lone 1 that volition show a awesome erstwhile you're adjusting the box's UEFI firmware settings, apt besides a holdover from its Surface roots—the interior show successful a Surface would apt beryllium connected with an interior embedded DisplayPort connector (eDP) that worked the aforesaid way.

The lone upgradeable constituent successful the Dev Kit is the 512GB SSD, which is simply a abbreviated M.2 2230 thrust conscionable similar the ones Microsoft uses successful different Surfaces. A emblematic M.2 2280 SSD would decidedly fit, though you'd person to fig retired however to clasp it successful spot yourself since there's nary built-in standoff for it. The rationale for utilizing a abbreviated small SSD successful the archetypal spot is astir apt the aforesaid arsenic for reusing a Surface motherboard—cheaper to reuse a happening than to plan and wage for a full antithetic thing, particularly successful what is apt to beryllium a low-volume product.