It hasn’t even been a complete week, and Windows 11 has already been efficiently ported over to a smartphone. A really dedicated scholar of engineering, Gustave Monce, revealed a video to YouTube exhibiting the most recent developer preview of Windows 11 working on an outdated Windows Phone.

The cellphone is a Lumia 950 XL, which you’ll keep in mind as soon as tried to usher within the period of Windows 10 Mobile. It was additionally the final Windows Mobile cellphone, and is now one way or the other a bonafide collector’s merchandise.

“It all started really five years ago, when Windows 10 Mobile was near obsolescence,” Monce mentioned in an interview with the The Verge concerning the Lumia WOA Project.

Monce is correct about Windows Phone being in a near-extinction section on the time. The platform was struggling even earlier than then to carry on to its barely 2% market share as Android and iOS units proliferated.

Monce teamed up with one other classmate, Bingxing Wang, who was additionally into the concept of working a desktop OS on the Lumia’s 5.7-inch display screen.

“As time went on and we started talking about it, discussion groups formed and in turn we had a community of people interested in running full Windows 10 on Lumia 950s,” Monce advised The Verge.

The staff now consists of 15 individuals engaged on the WOA Project. They labored collectively on the Windows 11 port by reverse-engineering the work that they had already accomplished with Windows 10 and 10X.

Android customers have additionally gotten in on the Doing It Because You Can enjoyable, for those who’re the kind of one who calls this type of factor “fun”—I don’t, however I additionally had a nervous breakdown fixing the CSS on my web site, in order that’s the place I’m coming from. XDA surfaced how builders behind The Renegade Project bought Windows 11 in addition on a OnePlus 6T. It even has among the working system’s core features working as meant, together with Bluetooth and USB enter. The precise desktop dimension is small and snipped, however in any other case, it’s enjoyable! Pure enjoyable!

In all sincerity, it’s neat to see what’s doable with a little bit of persistence and a knack for reconfiguring. But it’s additionally a sign of Windows 11’s scalability relative to older variations. In the movies embedded above, Windows is natively working on ARM-based CPUs. Previously, Windows 10 may solely run if it was emulated on Qualcomm-based tablets and, as exhibited right here, smartphones. But as a result of Microsoft rebuilt the binaries of Windows 11 on ARM with ARM64EC, it’s doable to go in and remap elements of the OS to get it working on older {hardware}.

You may most likely strive it your self for those who had the wherewithal. The Renegade Project, at the very least, lets you obtain the supply code and tinker with it your self. The WOA Project additionally has loads of guides that can assist you stroll by means of what the method can be wish to revive that outdated Windows Phone you might have stowed away in your closet.