Running full Windows 10 on a phone has long been a dream for many Microsoft enthusiasts and is, indeed, the central theme surrounding the many rumours pertaining to the fabled Surface Phone. While eager fans will have to wait till the end of the year, at least, to see Microsoft"s vision for a phone running Windows 10, some hackers have shown us a preview of, perhaps, what could have been with older Lumia phones.
The recent releases of Windows Phone Internals have allowed enthusiasts to install any ROM of their choice on Lumia devices and, naturally, some of them decided to try their hand with running desktop Windows on their phones.
Looks like getting RT to run on newer devices is actually easier than old x20 lumia, wouldn"t be possible without @Heathcliff74XDA hard work :D pic.twitter.com/qjfO0AQuCi
— Gustave M. (@gus33000) January 12, 2018
Gustave M. and Blaze were both successful at installing the now-defunct Windows RT on the Lumia 830 and Lumia 950, respectively. This is not the first time we"ve seen Windows RT running on a Windows Phone, as the same tools were used to shoehorn a build of Windows RT into a Lumia 520 back in 2015.
Lumia 950 Win8RT pic.twitter.com/6us3i1Xl4T
— Blaze (@Blaze_CW) January 12, 2018
What is a first, however, is Gustave"s next project, which saw him installing Windows 10 on ARM on his Lumia 830, marking perhaps the first time we"ve seen a Lumia run full Windows (except, presumably, inside Microsoft"s own labs).
17061 works pic.twitter.com/Qf1lizzZWr
— Gustave M. (@gus33000) January 13, 2018
Don"t get your hopes up yet, as the feat is largely a tech demo at this point, with multiple incompatibilities and issues like an inoperative touchscreen preventing you from living out your dream of using a Windows 10-powered Lumia as your daily driver.
Via: MSPoweruser
Update: A previous version of the article suggested the device in question was a Lumia 1520. This has now been corrected. We apologise for the error.