Dev provides steps to deploy full Windows 10 on a phone

May 14, 2018 08:29 GMT  ·  By

As we’ve reported earlier today, software developer @imbushuo has managed to install Windows 10 ARM on a Lumia 950 XL, with the majority of features working just as expected.

It goes without saying that having the full version of Windows 10 running on a phone that’s supposed to be dead is a dream coming true for the majority of Windows Phone diehards, so needless to say, many were looking for instructions on how to make this happen on their devices as well.

@imbushuo has shared the procedure to install Windows 10 ARM on the Lumia 950 XL on Twitter, only that we must warn from the very beginning that it’s not for the faint of heart.

It involves you having more than average computer knowledge and developer skills, as it comes down to complex steps that you might not even know how to start. On the other hand, if you’re an experienced developer, deploying Windows 10 on the Lumia 950 XL comes down to this:


1) WPInternals 2.4 to unlock bootmgfw
2) 1st shim: https://github.com/imbushuo/boot-shim …
3) Kickstarter: https://github.com/imbushuo/lk  (msm8994-test-2 branch)
4) UEFI: https://github.com/imbushuo/Lumia950XLPkg … (Get Linaro toolchain and EDK2 ready)
Additional information about this project can be found on GitHub. As we said earlier today, while installing full Windows 10 on a Lumia phone is worth the effort for the sake of experiment, it certainly isn’t when taking into account the daily usability.

Microsoft itself has abandoned Windows phones, and while the platform still receives support until mid-2019, everything is projected to come to an end next year. Windows 10 Mobile is now in maintenance mode and Microsoft itself confirmed that no new features and devices are in the works.

Full Windows 10 on a mobile device might actually have a future of its own with Andromeda, a multi-form factor project that could see daylight sometime this year, not as a full phone replacement, but as a new product helping expand the Surface lineup.