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Some PC manufacturers have announced Qualcomm Snapdragon 835-powered "Always Connected" PCs running an ARM version of Windows 10 S. Users will be able to upgrade to an ARM version of Windows 10 Pro, which will unlock the ability to side load applications, including x86 applications, which will run on these PCs via x86 emulation. It has been said, however, that not all software written for x86 and x86-64 Windows PCs will run on these "Always Connected" ARM-powered Windows 10 PCs.
I am not asking for a complete list of software titles that won't run. What I want to know is what are the specific requirements or restrictions that means that certain software won't run.
I'm asking in order to help readers of this question decide if they likely will want or need to run such software, which may disqualify the purchase of these devices for those readers.
Now that I know that apps that use kernel mode drivers aren't supported, the next question is "what are some applications that use kernel mode drivers?" I asked that question separately -- superuser.com/questions/1276686/… -- and the question was immediately put on hold for being "too broad". I gather from the fact that this question was placed on hold for being too broad that there is potentially a lot of x86 software that uses kernel mode drivers, software that those ARM-powered "Always Connected" Windows 10 PCs will not, in their current state, be able to run. – Drew Neilson – 2017-12-17T19:52:58.403
One question left unaddressed by the Microsoft spokesperson is whether ARM-powered "Always Connected" Windows 10 PCs will support kernel mode drivers that have been compiled for ARM. Obviously, in their current state, they will not support kernel-mode drivers that have been compiled for x86 or for x86-64. – Drew Neilson – 2017-12-17T19:55:46.327