
You Can Now Run Windows 10 on the Raspberry Pi 3 - cwt137
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/windows-10-arm-raspberry-pi-3-installer,38604.html
======
zaroth
Wouldn't the license cost more than the hardware?

The site where they are sourcing the Windows ISO from seems sketchy, but
apparently is legit...? [1] [2]

I guess the site is just an index of Microsoft hosted ISOs, so they are just
providing a UI to generate the correct link, and you can check the link is
actually going to Microsoft servers before downloading.

[1] - [https://uup.rg-adguard.net/](https://uup.rg-adguard.net/)

[2] - [https://www.ghacks.net/2017/03/13/adguard-website-
download-w...](https://www.ghacks.net/2017/03/13/adguard-website-download-
windows-and-office-iso-images/)

~~~
asdff
Are there any reasons to register windows 10, besides being able to change
your desktop background? AFAIK the "this copy of windows is not genuine"
message is benign.

~~~
colejohnson66
It allows access to certain features. I believe Hyper-V and a few others are
locked behind a license door.

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muterad_murilax
Well, at least you'll have a Windows machine that isn't vulnerable to Meltdown
or Spectre.

~~~
trumped
But can it run x86 software?

~~~
colejohnson66
Yes. Through a VM like qemu or a tool like ExaGear

~~~
bpye
Disclaimer: Microsoft employee, I work on Windows

Windows 10 on ARM64 devices can run x86 applications. This [1] video on
Channel 9 seems to cover it pretty well.

[1] -
[https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2017/P4171](https://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2017/P4171)

~~~
sebazzz
I wonder if the RPi has enough power to run even something like Notepad++

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buzzert
Can anyone think of a good reason why you would want to run Windows 10 on the
Raspberry Pi? I'm not trying to start a Windows/Linux debate, I'm just
wondering if the wealth of Windows software is largely unavailable on ARM
anyway, why not just run Raspbian anyway?

~~~
WorldMaker
For the joy of the hobby? Isn't that why most things get done on a Raspberry
Pi?

Also, this is recent builds of Windows 10 on ARM that includes the x86
emulator to run a ton of traditional x86 Windows software.

(Not far from here is the rabbit hole of folks installing these same Windows
10 on ARM builds on Microsoft's Lumia 950 and 950 XL hardware. One such video
I saw showed someone running Steam on it to grab and play Fallout 1.)

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runjake
Caution: To do this you need to run a rat's nest of a batch file that runs a
bunch of different code obtained from the web.

If you're going to try this, try on devices you don't care about. Or spend
innumerable hours auditing code.

Pass -- for now.

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Crosseye_Jack
Did they ever fix the SD Card issue? IoT-Core has been possible on the RPi3
for a while but none of my micro SD cards would boot the image but would
happily run every other OS for the RPi I never bothered playing with it.

~~~
sebazzz
Windows IoT has specific storage requirements if I recall correctly. This is
regarding SD card speed.

~~~
Crosseye_Jack
Sorry Only just saw this, I tried with a number of Class 10 cards (Adafruit
sell a Window IoT kit which includes a Class 10 card) From a couple of
manufactures. All of them would take the image just not boot the image. I was
never too bother to check if their was any error messages thrown out over
serial. It was just a pasing interest and I couldn't be arsed enough to get
another SD card on MS's tested list to try again.

------
babyslothzoo
Personally I think the Github page is more informative than the very brief
article

[https://github.com/WoA-project/WoA-
Installer/blob/master/Doc...](https://github.com/WoA-project/WoA-
Installer/blob/master/Docs/Raspberry.md)

------
Uehreka
Linus Tech Tips had an interesting video[1] last year about a Zotac micro-PC
which costs something like $180[2]. It got me thinking, if the included
Windows license cost $100 (though I'm sure they get it cheaper as an OEM) then
the device would fall into the Raspberry Pi's "a computer for less than $100"
range. When dealing with tiny cheap hardware, the cost of Windows no longer
fades into the background (like it does with a $1000-2000 workstation) and
becomes the most expense part of the device. The "free-as-in-beer"dom of Linux
really stands out in these kinds of situations.

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32g1ByDRzO0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32g1ByDRzO0)
[2] [https://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-Fanless-Dual-Core-1-10GHz-
ZBOX-...](https://www.amazon.com/ZOTAC-Fanless-Dual-Core-1-10GHz-ZBOX-
PI225-W2B/dp/B076CBHT4T/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1550086253&sr=8-2&keywords=Zotac+PI225)

~~~
p1necone
I got perpetual free keys from university that I just keep moving to whatever
PC's I'm using.

~~~
21
Technically you are pirating.

~~~
p1necone
I don't think so? The keys were given to students but afaik they are
intentionally valid past graduation and transferable to new machines via
microsoft account.

Edit: perhaps you misunderstood - I didn't take keys that were licensed for
university owned machines, I got a key that was given _to students_ for their
personal devices as part of some agreement with microsoft.

Although I have no qualms about actually pirating windows either ever since
they started pushing advertising into the start menu.

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exitcode00
Wow, I checked but apparently the Pi 3 DOES meet the Windows 10 system
requirements _just_ barely. I wonder how fast the UI and Cortana run...

Win 10 Specs: Processor: 1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster processor or SoC. RAM: 1
gigabyte (GB) for 32-bit or 2 GB for 64-bit. Hard disk space: 16 GB for 32-bit
OS 20 GB for 64-bit OS. Graphics card: DirectX 9 or later with WDDM 1.0
driver. Display: 800x600

Ras Pi 3: CPU: 4× ARM Cortex-A53, 1.2GHz. GPU: Broadcom VideoCore IV. RAM: 1GB
LPDDR2 (900 MHz) Networking: 10/100 Ethernet, 2.4GHz 802.11n wireless.
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.1 Classic, Bluetooth Low Energy. Storage: microSD.

~~~
pexaizix
1 GHz on x86 != 1 GHz on ARM

~~~
Narishma
Even 1Ghz on one x86 != 1Ghz on a different x86 CPU.

~~~
floatboth
And of course on a different ARM CPU.

Cortex-A53 is an ultra low power, tiny core. It's okay for an embedded toy,
it's _miserable_ for a real computer. You really really want at least a
Cortex-A72.

------
voltagex_
The image is from Microsoft's server, but the "core package", including
drivers, EFI binaries and a copy of Balena's Etcher tool - where do they come
from?

------
kup0
Windows 10 is already quite slow on older or low-powered desktops (like AMD A4
series), I can't imagine trying to use it on an RPi

------
ddalex
This reminds me of an old joke: Q: Can you implement Communism in Switzerland?
A: Yes, but it would be a shame.

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frabert
Are the GPIO pins accessible via APIs too?

~~~
eberkund
Yes. [https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/iot-core/learn-
abou...](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/iot-core/learn-about-
hardware/pinmappings/pinmappingsrpi)

You could actually run Windows on Raspberry Pi 3 for a while now, I think it
just was just a beta image or something. I'm not entirely sure, but I know I
was able to install Windows IoT core on my Pi 3B.

~~~
snailmailman
IoT core is different than full windows. It’s almost like the “lite” version
of embedded windows. It has no desktop or start menu, for instance.

From what I understand, now you can run _full_ windows. Although I’m curious
how well it runs

~~~
Avery3R
The lite version of embedded windows is embedded compact, which uses an
entirely different kernel. EC can't run normal win32 apps, even if they're
compiled for the architecture. IoT is somewhere in the middle. It's windows
embedded with almost everything stripped out, but it still uses a normal NT
kernel, and it can still run normal win32 apps.

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amelius
I could use one to test my websites on IE ;)

~~~
smcl
I know you’re kidding, but Microsoft provide VMs you can use to do this:
[https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-
edge/tools/v...](https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-
edge/tools/vms/)

------
josteink
This looks neat, but hardly official. Let’s hope it doesn’t suffer a takedown-
notice.

I might give this a try one day when I have time.

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chadlavi
is "it runs win10" gonna be the new "it runs doom"?

------
airstrike
Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they
didn't stop to think if they should.

~~~
tombert
I literally LOL'd upon reading this.

While I personally hate using Windows, I have been trying to get family
members to update their machines from Windows Vista, and they won't because
"new machines are too expensive and their computer works fine", and despite my
best efforts, I cannot get said family members to let me install a Linux on
there.

A Raspberry Pi is cheap enough that I might be able to swing them to using
something a bit more modern.

EDIT: Not 100% sure why I'm being downvoted for this. Clearly I didn't realize
how slow Windows would be.

~~~
Piskvorrr
And they will hate it with a heat of a thousand suns...it's slow enough
without bloat. Not a desktop computer except for the truly patient or
desperate. (Excellent for many tasks, but local interactive desktop not one of
them - a netbook by any other name)

~~~
airstrike
> except for the truly patient or desperate

More like the right desktop to make a patient person desperate

~~~
Piskvorrr
Tbh, I did see a use-case: a literal off-the-grid user, for whom every mAh was
an issue. Used a RPi with the tiny display and wired kbd...but I think he went
for text-mode Raspbian, for lower consumption, too.

