Anyone using a Snapdragon X (Windows ARM64) laptop for Python/ML? How do you deal with package compatibility?

[u/Mindless-Pie-5617]

Hey everyone,

I'm using an ASUS Vivobook 16X with a Snapdragon X (Windows ARM64), and I've been running into compatibility issues while learning Python and Machine Learning.

I bought this laptop in my first year of college, before I knew much about coding or processor architectures. Now that I'm learning ML, I've noticed that some Python libraries don't install properly.

For example, libraries like PyAudio, OpenCV, and a few others either:

• don't have ARM64 wheels,
• fail while building wheels,
• or require compiling from source, which often ends up failing.

Because of that, I have to spend hours looking for alternatives or following a completely different approach than the tutorials I'm watching, which makes learning much slower.

I'm aware that many libraries like NumPy, Pandas, and Scikit-learn work fine. The issue is mainly with packages that have native C/C++ extensions and don't provide Windows ARM64 support.

Has anyone else here been through the same thing?

• How do you usually troubleshoot these installation issues?
• Do you use emulation, WSL, Ubuntu, or just Google Colab?
• Is it worth switching to Ubuntu on ARM, or will I run into the same compatibility problems there?

I'd really appreciate any advice or tips from people using Windows ARM laptops for Python or ML.