While Windows 10 ARM seems to be the future of Windows on Mobile and it’s a big deal for Microsoft, but unfortunately, the software giant is not allowing Windows 10 Mobile devices to upgrade to this version of the OS. It’s clear that current Windows Phones will not be upgrading to ARM in any way, but the developers have somehow managed to hack the Lumia 950 XL and successfully booted Windows 10 ARM.
The developers have shared a guide which allows users to install Windows 10 ARM on Lumia 950 XL. The process is complex but it has been explained in plain English. It’s worth noting that after ‘upgrading’ to Windows 10 ARM on a Lumia 950 XL, the important features such as WiFi, Cellular data, Bluetooth, Accelerated graphics, USB-C host, Battery meter, automatic orientation, automatic brightness, camera and microphone won’t work.
“This project involves a great complexity and fixing/creating drivers and getting everything working takes a lot of time and effort,” a developer said.
The unreleased operating system can be installed on Lumia 950XL (RM-1116 059X4S5 Dual SIM and RM-1085 059X4T0 Single SIM). But the installation is not guaranteed even if you have one of these models.
Interestingly, the developers are also planning to dual boot Windows 10 ARM and Windows 10 Mobile on Lumia phones.
As noted above, you can install full Windows 10 on your Windows Phone but most of the features won’t work, and it would make your handset unusable for daily usage. Of course, the platform on unsupported Lumia 950 XL isn’t as snappy and responsive as you’d expect it to be in a perfect world. But it’s “the phone that can replace your PC,” that means you can run Google Chrome, full Office suite and more.
It’s an experimental project for testing purposes only, and it’s certainly something that you can live, at least for experimental purposes but it’s buggy. If you’re interested, you can download the Word document from here and learn more about the guide.
Microsoft itself has abandoned phones, and Windows 10 Mobile operating system is in maintenance mode with no feature updates in radar. The report suggests that a new kind of mobile device is on its way to the market, and Microsoft will be launching it as soon as this year.
