This brave developer got Windows running on a Surface Duo

From Xbox game consoles to HoloLens headsets, regular PCs, and even servers, Windows runs on all different kinds of devices. Now, one developer is now bringing the operating system to a strange place: The Surface Duo.

The developer, Gustave Monce, started the project in the middle of December and has steadily posted updates on Twitter. In his latest update, Monce showcased the Windows 11 install screen running on the left screen of a Surface Duo. He notes that the project is “still early days,” but also mentioned that it’s satisfying to watch.

Still early days so aside from booting and showing stuff on screen that is about it but that’s always satisfying to watch pic.twitter.com/z0iTJFIbyY

— Gustave Monce 🦉 (@gus33000) February 2, 2022

You might be wondering, but Monce indicated that the reason the right-side screen isn’t working is because it is a secondhand device. This is purposeful on his part, as he also wanted to test to see if the flash storage on the Duo is compatible with Windows.

Surface fans, though, have asked Monce about running Windows 10X, which is Microsoft’s now-dead operating system for foldable computers like the defunct Surface Neo. Monce says it’s something “I want to run on here,” but “it’s still early for that.”

Installing Windows 11 on the Surface Duo is definitely not an easy task, though. Monce has shown the lines of code and kernel that need to be tweaked to get things working right. And this isn’t the first time that Monce has put Windows in a strange place.

In June 2021, he installed Windows 11 on a Lumia 950 XL. He worked on the project with a group of other engineering students, and features like touch, the new Windows 11 gestures, and new File Explorer, and even widgets worked fine on the device.

Microsoft actually was hoping to put a special flavor of Windows, known as Andromeda, on the Surface Duo and other foldable devices at one point in history. The project, though, was eventually canceled in favor of Android, but it was recently showcased running on a Lumia 950 in a video by Windows Central’s Zac Bowden.

While Monce’s project might not be the Andromeda OS that Microsoft intended for the Duo, it is is giving the world a peek at what could have been for the device. It also could show how powerful the Surface Duo hardware truly is in non-Android form.

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