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SnapDragon X - WindowsPE Windows Imaging - ZENworks?

Matthew Stavert

So, I believe the uptake of SnapDragon X is going to happen VERY quickly. We already have 7+ Laptops on order from major industry vendors, and if the battery is awesome due to ARM, I could quickly see hundreds show up for every greening purposes, and they will be the new defacto standard. And since SnapDragin X runs Windows 11 and has an x86 emulator, the uptake will be even quicker. So my question is, I use Windows PE Imaging in ZENworks right now, and currently, as far as I can tell, that only supports x86 and x64 in Zenworks. We will need WinPE ARM64, so ZENworks will need to be able to:

1. Load WinPE ARM64 from PXE
2. Inject ZEN commands into WInPE ARM 64

At that point, we should be able to Image SnapDragon X Windows 11 ARM64 devices. Is this in the works or is a hidden capability now? Or is there a way to do this now?  I could more than likely Create a bootable ARM64 WinPE but not sure if I would have the ability to inject the ZEN commands.  As well PXE integration needs to happen for the long run...if I could get ZEN injected I might be able to create a custom boot menu option for ZEN PXE but that is not a favorable solution, since I am customizing ZEN at that point. So my question is, what does Opentext have in the works for this?  How far are we away?  This has been coming down the pipe for more than 1 year now. And now it is here. Do we have any interim solutions?

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    And if there is no answer to this, from OpenText and the ZENworks team, I imagine from a turnkey perspective, most people will be pushed to Autopilot and in turn In-tune, since these are wrapped into one....I'm hoping it doesn't go there, but it could easily happen quickly if there is no solution coming for ZENworks. I would hope they patch older versions of ZENworks as well, not really old, but I would hope they patch 2020.2 in the least. 

  • 0   in reply to 

    They would never patch unsupported versions.  Getting from 20.2 to 23.4 is very simple.

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    I know ARM64 Support is something they are examining from existing models, but these new devices will be using a new ARM model that is not yet available for testing and using an OS Version that is not yet really available. IT will be a customer version of WIndows 11 24H2, but not the 24H2 that  is in beta.  

    While some things may work.....others may not.....If they ever take off will be a wait and see.....Intel's Chips due 2nd Half this year for laptops will have more HorsePower, Lower Power Usage, and a stronger NPU.

    https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/intel-next-generation-lunar-lake-cpus-launching-in-q3-arrow-lake-in-q4-mobile-chips-claimed-to-be-14x-faster-than-qualcomms-x-elite-processors

    AMD Processors will be similar in H2 this year as well.

    More Powerful with lower power requirements and great NPUs.

    These will be interesting....but may not take off any better than the prior ARM Surface Pros.  Any advantages they have may be a matter of 2-3 months until they are behind again.

    No doubt there will be integration testing on them....but even excluding OT code.....emulation will still only get you so far.

    --

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  • 0 in reply to   

    Well, Craig, with the bold claims Qualcomm is making with their x86 layer, we may be surprised. My feeling is they may have gotten this right this time. Especially with the pressure from Apple with M1/M2 and M3 and the success of the transition with Rosetta. Rosetta was invisible enough to the user that they happily just made the transition to the M series. Yes, it's a closed system, but that doesn't mean the idea and approach weren't relevant. I think with the x86 emulation, it's going to be a game changer. I would also say that the sit back and wait approach will more than likely not work with what I believe is about to happen in the industry. People are looking for in the least better power consumption, and this offers them that, while using their daily driver and OS. I know for a fact I will be quickly overwhelmed with these machines in my environment shortly, and I have NO imaging answer for them. Except to change the way I do things. 

  • 0   in reply to 

    I suspect this incarnation will be better than the last incarnation.....Some things will likely work out of the gate and other things will need work...But Intel's Chips in Q3 are supposed to have 40% more Power Than these chips at 20% lower Power Usage and will include an NPU.  Similar Claims coming from AMD.

    But yes...Since they will be coming from Multiple Vendors instead of basically just a single Surface Model....They will be more widely used.

    --

    If you found this post useful, give it a “Like” or click on "Verify Answer" under the "More" button

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  • 0  
    Yes, the Snapdragon X devices look very promising, this could indeed be a big revolution for Laptops and if successful this might go very fast. I assume it will all depend on compatibility of software running on these devices and their performance. In addition there are some new CPU's upcoming from Intel and AMD as well that will make this an interesting battle in the second half of this year. How things will go with the adoption of the Snapdragon machines we'll find out in the next few moths, the marketing posts from Qualcomm about their ability to run x86 apps look promising but let's see when these devices start to ship.
    For ZENworks I assume it won't be the deployment that will be the biggest issue but more the ZENworks agent that needs to run on this ARM type processor. I'm sure we'll be looking at this after we'll get 24.2 out the door, but hard to say when we'll get full support. I assume Modern Management through ZENworks will actually work already but I don't think we've done testing on this yet.
  • 0 in reply to   

    I hope we're not waiting until then. I am hoping the Prism x86_64 interpreter in Windows 11 runs the ZENworks client. If it does, then I could lay down a base image and have the ZENworks client push out the rest for these ARM devices....I will need functionality well before waiting for that version.

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The opinions expressed above are the personal opinions of the authors, not of OpenText. By using this site, you accept the Terms of Use. Certain versions of content ("Material") accessible here may contain branding from Hewlett-Packard Company (now HP Inc.), Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, or Micro Focus. As of January 31, 2023, the Material is now offered by OpenText, a separately owned and operated company. Any reference to the HP, Hewlett Packard Enterprise/HPE, and Micro Focus marks is historical in nature and the HP, Hewlett Packard Enterprise/HPE, and Micro Focus marks are the property of their respective owners.