Link to issue number:

Fixes #14397

Summary of the issue:

Although NVDA fully functions on Windows 10 ARM64, including interacting with both ARM64 and x86-emulated apps, on Windows 11 particular in-process NVDA features such as browse mode is not available when interacting with AMD64-emulated apps.
For instance, Running AMD64 builds of Firefox, or 1Password, or Chrome on Windows 11 ARM64, browse mode is not available.
The reason for this is that on ARM64 Windows, NVDA only launches an ARM64 nvdaHelperRemoteLoader process for injecting NVDAHelper, not an AMD64 one. This is because in Windows 10 running AMD64 apps was not supported by the OS.
NVDA should fully support AMD64-emulated apps on windows 11.

Description of user facing changes

On Windows 11 ARM64, NVDA's browse mode is now supported in AMD64 apps such as Firefox, Google Chrome, and 1Password.

Description of development approach

• NVDAHelper.py's versionedLib64Path variable has been replaced by versionLibAMD64Path and versionedLibARM64Path variables.
• NVDAHelper.py's RemoteLoader64 class has been renamed to RemoteLoader, and it now takes a loader directory path on construction, so that it is possible to launch NVDAHelperRemoteLoader.exe in either lib64 (AMD64) or libARM64.
• When initializing NVDAHelper, on ARM64, both ARM64 and AMD64 versions of NVDAhelperRemoteLoader are now started, and both are cleaned up on termination.

Testing strategy:

Ran a try build on Windows 11 ARM64.

• Opened 1Password (AMD64) and ensured that browse mode was activated for its document.
• Opened Firefox (AMD64) and browsed some web pages, ensuring that browse mode was functioning.
• Opened Microsoft Edge (ARM64) and ensured that browse mode was still functional.
  Ran try build on Windows 11 (AMD64):
• Opened Firefox, browsed some web pages and ensured browse mode was astill functional.

Known issues with pull request:

None known.

Change log entries:

New features

• On Windows 11 ARM64, browse mode is now available in AMD64 apps such as Firefox, Google Chrome and 1Password. (Browse mode is not available in some electron apps running on Windows 11 ARM #14397)
  Changes
  Bug fixes
  For Developers

Code Review Checklist:

• Pull Request description:
  • description is up to date
  • change log entries
• Testing:
  • Unit tests
  • System (end to end) tests
  • Manual testing
• API is compatible with existing add-ons.
• Documentation:
  • User Documentation
  • Developer / Technical Documentation
  • Context sensitive help for GUI changes
• UX of all users considered:
  • Speech
  • Braille
  • Low Vision
  • Different web browsers
  • Localization in other languages / culture than English
• Security precautions taken.