HomeWinBuzzer NewsMicrosoft’s Decision about Full Windows 10 on Raspberry Pi

Microsoft’s Decision about Full Windows 10 on Raspberry Pi

Raspberry Pi founder, Eben Upton, says he wants a full Windows 10 experience on the small computing platform, but ultimately it is up to Microsoft. Redmond already supplies Windows 10 IoT Core for the device, so Microsoft’s commitment to change Windows 10 to run on Raspberry Pi may be limited.

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Eben Upton, the founder of Raspberry Pi, has expressed his desire for the device to support desktop. At the moment Raspberry Pi 3 supports the Linux platform, but Windows 10 support would take the device to the next level. In an interview with CouputerWorld, Upton says the decision is in 's hands.

It's a Microsoft decision,” Upton said in the interview. “I would love it if Microsoft would do that. I'd love to it.”

Raspberry Pi started as something of a hobby device. A tiny PC, the device spoke to the enthusiast with its open sourced software. However, with Windows 10, Raspberry Pi 3 has the potential to become an accessible, small, and affordable computing solution for millions.

Eben Upton with Raspberry Pi
Eben Upton with Raspberry Pi

The third iteration of the device launched this year and Microsoft has already backed the device. Windows 10 IoT Core is available for Pi. However, this is a stripped down version of the platform, and Upton would clearly prefer the full Windows 10 experience.

Windows 10 IoT Core

However, Microsoft's willingness or desire to bring Windows 10 to the device in full is up for debate. At the moment, Raspberry Pi gives the company a foundation for Windows 10 IoT Core. The Internet of Things and the cloud is big for Microsoft. Azure currently underpins the Windows IoT Core/Raspberry Pi relationship. Microsoft may just like to keep it that way.

If Redmond did decide to release a full Windows 10 build for the small computer, some changes would be needed. The desktop build of the platform only runs on x86 chipsets, precluding the 1.2 GHz 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 in Pi 3. Windows 10 Mobile would be up to the task of desktop computing as proven with Continuum. However, Microsoft's mobile platform only works with Qualcomm-based ARM processors.

Whether Microsoft would be willing to put in the work to make a Raspberry Pi specific Windows 10 is doubtful.

Luke Jones
Luke Jones
Luke has been writing about all things tech for more than five years. He is following Microsoft closely to bring you the latest news about Windows, Office, Azure, Skype, HoloLens and all the rest of their products.

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