Microsoft is not developing Windows Phone platform anymore and the company a while ago confirmed there’ll be no miraculous Windows 10 Mobile revivals. Needless to say, you might be already tired of hearing again and again that Windows 10 Mobile is dead. While Microsoft is no longer interested in its own mobile platform, the developers and enthusiasts don’t want to give up on Lumia phones just yet.
If you don’t want to give up on your Lumia phones just yet, but you’re willing to experiment, then we have a good news for you. Skilled developers in the Windows Phone community have successfully ported the Windows 10 on ARM project to the Microsoft’s Lumia 950 XL, after testing it on an unreleased Lumia Hapanero.
It’s been a while since the developers started searching for a way to install full Windows 10 ARM on Lumia phones and it appears that development is finally advancing. A video posted by Ben shows the first setup experience screen of Windows 10 running on a Lumia 950 XL.
It’s worth noting that Microsoft hasn’t optimized the Windows 10 on ARM operating system for small screen devices such as the Lumia 950, the company’s last Windows 10 Mobile flagship that launched in late 2015.
While the project sounds interesting, it’s not feasible in the long term as full Windows 10 on Lumia has several limitations. Windows 10 ARM on a Lumia phone is certainly not a feasible project due to lack of drivers and Microsoft’s involvement. In the long run, it’s nearly impossible to make Lumia 950 with full Windows 10 a daily driver.
The developers are trying to run the operating system with supported or ported drivers, and they might be also planning for active development of new features. Ben has confirmed that the Windows 10 ARM is limited to select phones, it won’t work on Windows Phones like Lumia 650.
— Ben | imbushuo (@imbushuo) May 3, 2018
A couple of months ago, the developers also managed to run Windows RT on some Lumia phones with support for most of the necessary features. The developers are also experimenting with Android on Lumia project and a new update is expected in the coming months.
While Windows 10 Mobile is heading towards its last months of support and phones will stop receiving security patches in late 2019, Microsoft is believed to be working on a new mobile device that would run Windows Core OS on ARM architecture out of the box. Such a device is currently referred to as Andromeda and launch might take place later this year.
