Microsoft launches developer-dedicated 'Windows Dev Kit 2023' with 32GB RAM, NPU

After revealing Project Volterra at Build 2022, Microsoft is now launching it under the name “Windows Dev Kit 2023.” The mini-computer device is powered with Snapdragon’s latest 8cx Gen 3 compute platform, 512GB fast NVMe storage, and 32GB LPDDR4x RAM. Additionally, it features a neural processing unit (NPU), just like the 5G Surface Pro 9, making it effective in handling AI- and machine learning-specific workloads.

Windows Dev Kit 2023 only costs $599, giving it a huge advantage over Apple’s Mac mini with 256GB SSD storage and 8GB RAM for $699. And while Project Volterra is intended just for developers and not as a general mini desktop PC for the market, you can buy it without problems as long as you are in one of the eight markets where it will be released, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, China, Canada, and Australia.

Windows Dev Kit 2023 has three USB-A and two USB-C ports and supports Bluetooth 5.1, Wi-Fi 6, and physical ethernet. Its Mini DisplayPort can handle up to three external monitors, and you can have two of them at 4K 60Hz. Its dedicated AI processor, the Hexagon processor, complements the Arm-based Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, allowing developers to build Arm-native and AI-powered apps alongside other developer tools, such as Visual Studio 2022 17.4 and .NET 7.

“More apps, tools, frameworks, and packages are being ported to natively target Windows on Arm and will be arriving over the coming months,” said Microsoft. “In the meantime, thanks to Windows 11’s powerful emulation technology, developers will be able to run many unmodified x64 and x86 apps and tools on their Windows Dev Kit.”

On the other hand, while the ARM architecture-based kit is only exclusive to Windows 11, it shows Microsoft’s dedication to its commitment to Windows on ARM. Aside from the company’s apps getting Windows on ARM support (with other third-party apps joining), it recently unveiled the Surface Pro 9 with 5G boasting Windows 11 Pro on an ARM processor. With this, the arrival of Windows Dev Kit 2023 is a piece of another good news for Windows on ARM fans, especially developers hoping to develop more apps for ARM. And with the impressive specifications of Windows Dev Kit 2023, it should do a decent job of providing smooth performance to developers.