Even though our favorite operating system, Android, adapts well to all types of devices, there is still a way to go before it is considered useful on desktop. We have experiments like Samsung DeX, and even native desktop mode which is still in development, although it was not the first try convergence.
Microsoft tried it with Windows 10 Mobile, yet another test after the failure of Windows Phone. For several years, the community resurrected this idea with a project that you may not know: it gives us the possibility of installing Windows 10 and Windows 11 on Android phones.
Windows natively on your Android mobile
This was made possible thanks to the group of Renegade Project, a community that has been working for several years to port UEFI firmware to devices equipped with Snapdragon processors. Thanks to this addition it is possible to install Linux distributions and other operating systems, such as that of Microsoft.
Like any community project, still in development and at no time do they guarantee that it will function normally. Since our mobile phones integrate many components, these must be supported in each operating system, which is really complex. In fact, they work through what is often called “reverse engineering” to develop Drivers (controllers in our language) functional.
Essentially, this is the same work that was done in the past to update the Lumia to Windows 10 desktop. Because yes, currently Windows 10 and Windows 11 both have a ARM version suitable for mobile device architectures. With all this, Renegade Project increases support for some very popular phones of recent years: the legendary POCO F1, some OnePlus, the POCO X3 and even the LG G8.
On its official website you can see the compatibility table: the normal thing is that the sound does not work, much less the camera (the drivers are proprietary, which makes adaptation difficult). Yes, it helps us experiment with an old phoneout of curiosity or for certain specific uses.
Just take a look on YouTube to find demonstrations from some users. In fact, some have successfully installed games from platforms like Steam. Obviously, performance is not as desiredin addition to the fact that we cannot connect them to external monitors (most of them do not support video output via USB-C).
An Android mobile running Windows 11 natively and the Portal game. Image of Pete the Android on YouTube
If you have one of the compatible mobiles you can install it yourself. Of course, we at Xataka Android are not responsible for what may happen to your phone, this is an unofficial project and has some sensitive steps. You can end up with a nice paperweight if you accidentally touch a partition or the modem itself. Do so at your own risk and expense.
By | Genbeta
Cover image | Javier Penalva for Xataka (with montage)
In Xataka Android | My laptop’s webcam is terrible, so my Android phone took away its job. This is how I did it
