It's 2023 - what's the best way to run Windows on a Pi4?

[jimh12345]

I have an RPi 400, currently running Pi OS, and now I have a need to run a Windows program on that system. Googling for "Windows 11 on Raspberry Pi" turns up a ton of stuff, various ways to get Windows running, much of it obviously out of date. I find any number of sites saying - it used to be difficult, but here's the new way... and they're all different. We're officially in the age of dead Web overgrowth.

I have a desktop system running Windows 11, if that helps.

Can anyone here clue me in on the best/easiest way, today, to get Windows 11 running on a Pi?

[revell1]

The easiest option is DON'T DO IT.

The Windows OS needs a large harddisk, with fast access times for disk swap performance.
It also likes lots of RAM.
Also fast multiple cores.
A high performance display device.

If you were to get Windows running on a PI400 I would not expect it to have any usable performance.

I have a not so old Lenovo Ideapad that should run Windows, well it does, but I never turn it on, as it is so slow and unusable.

[ejolson]

I have an RPi 400, currently running Pi OS, and now I have a need to run a Windows program on that system. Googling for "Windows 11 on Raspberry Pi" turns up a ton of stuff, various ways to get Windows running, much of it obviously out of date. I find any number of sites saying - it used to be difficult, but here's the new way... and they're all different. We're officially in the age of dead Web overgrowth.

I have a desktop system running Windows 11, if that helps.

Can anyone here clue me in on the best/easiest way, today, to get Windows 11 running on a Pi?

I do not think many people on this forum run Windows 11 on a Pi. How does one even obtain a license to do so legally? Once the legal bridge has been crossed it may be possible for people to help.

Note also in 2023 that no mobile phones are sold with Microsoft Windows and that is the closest platform to a Pi.

By the way, what ARM-based Windows-only software do you want to run?

[ame]

I have an RPi 400, currently running Pi OS, and now I have a need to run a Windows program on that system. Googling for "Windows 11 on Raspberry Pi" turns up a ton of stuff, various ways to get Windows running, much of it obviously out of date. I find any number of sites saying - it used to be difficult, but here's the new way... and they're all different. We're officially in the age of dead Web overgrowth.

I have a desktop system running Windows 11, if that helps.

Can anyone here clue me in on the best/easiest way, today, to get Windows 11 running on a Pi?

You need to run a Windows program on your Pi?

Easy! Get the source code of the Windows program and recompile it on the Pi. Unless it's some closed-source proprietory program, then you're hosed.

Alternatively, run the Windows program on your Windows desktop and expose a network interface. Connect the application on your Pi to the application on the Windows box over the network and move data that way.

Or, take the code that's running on the Pi and recompile it on the Windows box, then the Windows application is local and can be integrated that way. Bonus if you were already using a cross-platform language such as Python.

If none of that works, distil the Windows program to its core functions and reimplement what you need on the Pi.

[MiscBits]

If you must then go to https://worproject.com/

But do not expect too much and expect to be disappointed.

Be aware that applications in the AppStore may not run despite being available and even if they do performance rates from poor to bad.

[AndrewPiEater]

Windows 11 runs very solid on my work laptop, which was designed for it. The ARM version works very nicely in Parallels on my M2 MacBook.

But despite this:

“We’ve had people queuing up and saying they want Windows, the whole time,” says Upton. “I think there’s a sense that 'you’re a real PC' if you run Windows.”. — Eben Upton 2015

Raspberry Pi is not really a Windows environment. YouTube instructional videos are probably a better place to start looking.

[jimh12345]

Thanks all, I've now had my hopes crushed.

There's just one application I was hoping to run, but of course there's no ARM build of it available, so fuggedaboudit I guess.

I'd need some sort of x86 emulation framework. And even then I bet it wouldn't work because this application needs to communicate with a device over USB, and some driver would no doubt be missing.

[ejolson]

Thanks all, I've now had my hopes crushed.

There's just one application I was hoping to run, but of course there's no ARM build of it available, so fuggedaboudit I guess.

I'd need some sort of x86 emulation framework. And even then I bet it wouldn't work because this application needs to communicate with a device over USB, and some driver would no doubt be missing.

Note ARM Windows has a built-in x86 emulation layer. From reading the link at

viewtopic.php?p=2091471#p2091471

it would appear there is a working USB driver for Windows on Raspberry Pi.

If you push forward with the directions from that site it would be interesting to know whether the software you want to run actually does.

[ame]

I'd need some sort of x86 emulation framework.

It's 2023! All you need is the source code.

[thagrol]

Can anyone here clue me in on the best/easiest way, today, to get Windows 11 running on a Pi?

Late to the party but...

Sell the Pi while they're still going for scapler prices then buy an x86 PC and a windows license.

[rpiMike]

Thanks all, I've now had my hopes crushed.

There's just one application I was hoping to run, but of course there's no ARM build of it available, so fuggedaboudit I guess.

I'd need some sort of x86 emulation framework. And even then I bet it wouldn't work because this application needs to communicate with a device over USB, and some driver would no doubt be missing.

What is this application?

[Gavinmc42]

I'd need some sort of x86 emulation framework. And even then I bet it wouldn't work because this application needs to communicate with a device over USB, and some driver would no doubt be missing.
What is this application?

I have found most of the time drivers are not needed for Linux.
Usually Linux will have a similar app to any Windows program as well.

[peterlite]

Pi 4 4 GB booting from an SSD would have run Windows 7 if there was an ARM compile. Windows 7 worked on machines of about the same speed. Windows 8.1 struggled a bit. Windows 10 was painful.

Locally, for the cost of a Pi 4 4G with SSD, power supply, mouse, keyboard, screen, and a wholesale box of the aspirin you will need, you can buy a second hand USB 3 mSATA era notebook with Windows.

[redvli]

Thanks all, I've now had my hopes crushed.

There's just one application I was hoping to run, but of course there's no ARM build of it available, so fuggedaboudit I guess.

I'd need some sort of x86 emulation framework. And even then I bet it wouldn't work because this application needs to communicate with a device over USB, and some driver would no doubt be missing.

If you want a new hobby (probably for the rest of your life) you can join this https://reactos.org/ It runs reasonably well in a VM on Intel, but last time I ran it there was little hope that USB would work for the more complex devices. I have a portable scanner, it eats A4-sized paper and leaves a PDF with text (via OCR) behind. What works is a 'fat' PC with IOMMU and at least 1 PCI-E slot fully supporting it where I have plugged a Renesas USB3 card. Windows10 runs in a VM that has that USB3 card mapped via the IOMMU hardware, so Windows10 can use a native signed driver and it works and the digital licensing is OK. I also tried USBIP and USBhost redirection, but the scanner driver does something such that 'ACK' (interrupts?) are lost. For a 'simple' device like a smartphone USB tethering for 4G internet, it works. The Windows10 VM did cost me 20 euros, the one I got for free in the early days of Windows10 (in VirtualBox on the same 'fat' PC) was seen as a new install on libvirt/KVM/QEMU.

You can see if Fexemu or Box86 etc would bring anything, but if you want to earn money, do as suggested. Sell you Pi and buy a second hand Intel thin client or so for half the price of Pi4 system. I paid about 60 euro for a HP touch tablet Intel Atom z8350 based including USB-C 60W powersupply. I made it triple boot although it runs openSUSE Tumbleweed mostly that has touch features enabled like on Android. It is just way more hardware, features, ease of use than a Pi4.

[mahjongg]

Can anyone here clue me in on the best/easiest way, today, to get Windows 11 running on a Pi?

there is no way!

windows (the real windows) requires an x86 CPU, and the PI uses an ARM CPU.

you can emulate an X86 on the PI, (like DOS-box does) and run WINE on it, (or do something similar) but it is NOT SUPPORTED HERE!