Microsoft will soon offer 4 CPU computer specifically aimed at developers and its name is Volterra. The machine as stated will come with 4 processors but the strange thing is that they will be ARM-based instead of x86.
CEO of Microsoft, mister Satya Nadella has introduced the product and Microsoft has released a youtube video promoting it.
The computer system will have Qualcomm's NPU or built-in neural processing unit to use AI's power to help developers write and produce better and faster code. The sad news is that besides processors used there is no other information on other components that will go into this system.
As seen in the video, the computer reminds me a lot of the apple MAC mini with its size and design, and as stated it is made from recycled plastic which in our opinion will bring the price under $1000.
Microsoft has not provided an official price tag for Volterra, but our hope is that it will be more affordable than building your own development PC. Also, there was nothing said about computer availability, we suspect that the selling model will be typical Microsoft one with first models available only in the USA and moving forward slowly opening it to other markets.
Volterra specifications
As previously said nothing except the number of CPUs and their type has been officially said but we managed to get some information about some other specific things not including its inside components.
The unit will have a fan inside of it for cooling purposes and better performance and that is what was officially stated by Microsoft. On the outside, it is known that the computer will have three USB-A ports, a mini DisplayPort, and an ethernet input. All of these will be positioned on the back of the device, on its left side there will be two USB-C ports.
The unit itself will be running on Windows 11 but it was not disclosed anything about the version, we presume since this is a model aimed for professional use that it will come with Windows 11 PRO version.
Currently available tools for ARM
Since this product is aimed at developers logically support for developing software is a must-have and at the time of this writing software that will come and that will run on Volterra is:
- Visual Studio 2022
- Visual Studio Code
- Visual C++
- Modern .NET 6 & JAVA
- Classic .NET
- Windows Terminal
- Windows Subsystem for Android
- Windows Subsystem for Linux
Conclusion
Once MAC studio has been released it showed that specific builds have their audience and can be sold for less of a price than full-fledged custom-made workstations. There is no doubt that Microsoft Volterra will find its audience but will that be enough to have more versions of this compact computer only time will tell.