Drivers, printers and audio interfaces on ARM
Drivers are the one thing Windows can't emulate. Check these before you buy or switch.
Updated Nov 5, 2026 · 3 min readWhy drivers are different
Apps can be emulated, but kernel drivers can't. An x64-only driver won't install on Windows on ARM, so hardware needs either a driver built into Windows or an ARM64 driver from its maker.
Printers
Most network printers work with the IPP/Mopria driver built into Windows, with no download. For extra features such as scanning, use the maker's ARM64 package. Brother, Canon, Epson and HP have them listed in Drivers & Hardware.
Audio interfaces
Class-compliant USB interfaces work with the driver built into Windows. Low-latency ASIO needs an ARM64 driver from the maker, and Focusrite, RME and Steinberg have them. Sweetwater reports that iLok activation isn't possible on Windows on ARM, so check plug-in licensing before you switch.
VPNs and security software
VPN adapters and antivirus engines run at kernel level too. Use the ARM64 builds listed in the VPN & Networking and Security categories.