Positron unable to install (aarm64)

[JothurChim]

Hi there, I was trying to install Positron on my laptop but it seems that the version is not compatible. I have the latest C++ visual redistributable. I've tried both user and system-wide installers and the same error has occurred. I've looked at the forum and it'd appear that the issue has been "resolved" (#5254).

The error that I get is just "The program does not support the version of Windows your computer is running". I've updated my laptop quite recently, so I'm not quite sure what to do.

Details:

Details	Specification
Device name	DESKTOP-SIV9UST
Processor	Snapdragon(R) X 12-core X1E80100 @ 3.40 GHz (3.42 GHz)
Installed RAM	.
Device ID	.
Product ID	.
System type	64-bit operating system, ARM-based processor
Pen and touch	Pen and touch support with 10 touch points
Edition	Windows 11 Home
Version	25H2
Installed on	‎10/‎05/‎2024
OS build	26200.8117
Serial number	.
Experience	Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.297.0

[JothurChim]

The file I've installed are "Positron-2026.04.0-269-Setup-arm64" and "Positron-2026.04.0-269-UserSetup-arm64", from the official website (should've made this clearer in the post; sorry). I've also downloaded Quarto separately. Since a lot of software seem to be incompatible with arm64, are there workarounds?

[JothurChim]

I've done up to the "Extract to Positron-2026.04.0-269-UserSetup-arm64.exe file" part. When I open the extracted folder, there doesn't seem to be the core file (which I assume to be Positron.exe). These are the files:

.bss
.data
.didata
.edata
.idata
.itext
.rdata
.reloc
.rsrc
.rsrc_1
.text
.tls
CERTIFICATE
[0]

Inside the .rsrc folder there are folders titled 0 and 1033 respectively, which do not contain the required Positron.exe file (I only see folders named RCDATA, MANIFEST, GROUPICON and ICON). I've also tried messing around with the emulation settings and it still doesn't work.

Update: I went to my university's IT support department. For some reason despite this being an arm64 laptop, the x64 install worked while the arm64 did not. Further testing shows that the x64 build runs on emulation (thereby causing Quarto unable to be rendered; I'm aware of separate issues causing this (rstudio/rstudio#15277).

The issue now is why the arm64 installer for Positron, despite trying the installer bypass method and fixing the emulator settings.

[seeM]

Thank you for the bug report @JothurChim! Here is my understanding so far:

1. Both Positron-2026.04.0-269-Setup-arm64.exe and Positron-2026.04.0-269-UserSetup-arm64.exe failed with "The program does not support the version of Windows your computer is running"
2. An x64 install did work

Could you please share the result of these commands run from PowerShell? I know you already shared some of this information, but it would be helpful to double-check:

systeminfo | findstr /C:"System Type" /C:"OS Version"

Are you able to run the arm64 installer with logging enabled (docs), or is that error occurring before the setup even starts? For example:

Positron-2026.04.0-269-UserSetup-arm64.exe /LOG="%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\positron-install.log"

... and share the resulting positron-install.log file here.

[JothurChim]

You'd be correct. As requested here are the outputs:

System info:

PS C:\Users\Jothur Chim> systeminfo | findstr /C:"System Type" /C:"OS Version"
OS Version:                    10.0.26200 N/A Build 26200
System Type:                   ARM64-based PC
BIOS Version:                  Microsoft Corporation 175.182.235, 30/09/2025

I don't quite understand what you mean by running the "arm64 installer with logging enabled", but here are the results:

PS C:\Users\Jothur Chim> Positron-2026.04.0-269-UserSetup-arm64.exe /LOG="%USERPROFILE%\Desktop\positron-install.log"
Positron-2026.04.0-269-UserSetup-arm64.exe : The term 'Positron-2026.04.0-269-UserSetup-arm64.exe' is not recognized
as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program. Check the spelling of the name, or if a path was
included, verify that the path is correct and try again.
At line:1 char:1
+ Positron-2026.04.0-269-UserSetup-arm64.exe /LOG="%USERPROFILE%\Deskto ...
+ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    + CategoryInfo          : ObjectNotFound: (Positron-2026.0...Setup-arm64.exe:String) [], CommandNotFoundException
    + FullyQualifiedErrorId : CommandNotFoundException

The .exe installer is in my Downloads folder. To reproduce my error:

1. Install Positron-2026.04.0-269-UserSetup-arm64 from the website.
2. Double click the .exe file.
3. Error occurs. The window shows: "This program does not support the version of Windows your
   computer is running."

I hope this helps.

Edit: I've been to the IT department. Here are the logs:

2026-04-10 13:50:11.942   Log opened. (Time zone: UTC+01:00)
2026-04-10 13:50:11.942   Setup version: Inno Setup version 6.4.1
2026-04-10 13:50:11.942   Original Setup EXE: C:\Users\Jothur Chim\Downloads\Positron-2026.04.0-269-UserSetup-arm64.exe
2026-04-10 13:50:11.942   Setup command line: /SL5="$E05EC,373599176,960512,C:\Users\Jothur Chim\Downloads\Positron-2026.04.0-269-UserSetup-arm64.exe" "/LOG=C:\Users\Jothur Chim\Desktop\positron-install.log"
2026-04-10 13:50:11.942   Compatibility mode: Yes (ARM64ForceX86Only)
2026-04-10 13:50:11.942   Windows version: 10.0.26200
2026-04-10 13:50:11.942   Windows architecture: x64 (64-bit)
2026-04-10 13:50:11.942   Machine types supported by system: x86 x64
2026-04-10 13:50:11.942   User privileges: Administrative
2026-04-10 13:50:12.081   Administrative install mode: No
2026-04-10 13:50:12.081   Install mode root key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER
2026-04-10 13:50:12.081   64-bit install mode: No
2026-04-10 13:50:12.081   Message box (OK):
                          This program does not support the version of Windows your computer is running.
2026-04-10 13:50:13.163   User chose OK.
2026-04-10 13:50:13.164   Got EAbort exception.
2026-04-10 13:50:13.164   Deinitializing Setup.
2026-04-10 13:50:13.173   Log closed.

Attempted fixes:

1. Checked process architecture terminal. It was indeed ARM64.

• Ran >> [System.Environment]::GetEnvironmentVariable("PROCESSOR_ARCHITECTURE")
ARM64

2. Looked for a registry key whether it should run in compatbility mode, but no findings resulted from this.
3. Checked properties of the .exe. None of the emulation checkboxes were ticked.
4. Forced run as an administrator.
5. Tried a silent installation.

All of these returned the same error.

[seeM]

I was able to repro your issue in a Windows arm64 virtual machine running on macOS.

Positron's arm64 installer incorrectly identified my architecture and gave me the same This program does not support the version of Windows your computer is running. error, logs:

2026-04-10 16:24:39.174   Windows version: 10.0.26200
2026-04-10 16:24:39.174   Windows architecture: x64 (64-bit)
2026-04-10 16:24:39.174   Machine types supported by system: x86 x64

Interesting that VSCode's arm64 installer correctly identified my architecture and worked:

2026-04-10 16:43:47.838   Windows version: 10.0.26200
2026-04-10 16:43:47.838   Windows architecture: Arm64 (64-bit)
2026-04-10 16:43:47.838   Machine types supported by system: x86 x64 Arm64

So this seems to be an issue on our end. We'll take a look and get back to you. Sorry for the inconvenience!

[seeM]

@JothurChim I've logged a bug report here: #12957. We will investigate and post findings there.

[JothurChim]

Thank you! Looking forward to the fix