Here is Windows 11 running on a Lumia 950 XL just because that's what the internet is for

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Putting Windows 11 on anything that can compute is the new challenge of summer 2021.

Lumia 950 XL
Lumia 950 XL (Image credit: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central)

What you need to know

  • The Windows 11 preview for Insiders was released this week.
  • There's a long history of people installing Microsoft's OS on weird hardware.
  • A video showing Windows 11 running on a Lumia 950 XL shows just how flexible the OS can be.

With the official Windows Insider build of Windows 11 now available, we can begin the process of putting it on anything with a processor, including a Raspberry Pi 4.

Now, for no real significant reason, Windows tweaker and engineering student Gustave Monce has managed to get Windows 11 running on a 2015-era Lumia 950 XL.

Of course, people have been putting Windows on random computing objects for years. We put Windows 10X on a Surface Pro, and a few years ago, someone put Windows 95 on an Apple Watch, so this is nothing new. But it's still nice to see that it is possible with some clever modifications to the OS.

Whether Windows 11 on a six-year-old phone is actually helpful in 2021 remains to be seen.

It does make you wonder about those Windows 11 processor requirements though. As we've mentioned, older CPUs can run Windows 11, but Microsoft is just not letting them, likely for security reasons.

But hey, if this phone can run it, there is hope for your aging laptop too.

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Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central. He is also the head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007, when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and watches. He has been reviewing laptops since 2015 and is particularly fond of 2-in-1 convertibles, ARM processors, new form factors, and thin-and-light PCs. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.