Windows on ARM (quite literally): Running Windows on a Smartwatch

In a plot twist, a developer successfully brought Windows on ARM to an unexpected smartwatch platform. The project, detailed in a recent blog post, showcases the potential of modern wearable technology and the adaptability of Windows on ARM.

The experiment involved running Windows on a Google Pixel Watch 3, a smartwatch with impressive hardware, including a quad-core ARM Cortex-A53 processor, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage.

The watch’s high-resolution OLED display and advanced connectivity features, such as Wi-Fi 6E and LTE, make it a surprisingly capable device for such a project.

The developer had quite the journey, and it involved many steps, such as tweaking the device, and even coming up with entire pieces of software to make Windows on Arm bootable on it. It worked.

Of course, the project only proves Windows’s adaptability on ARM and the technical challenges associated with porting an operating system to a platform it was not originally designed for: Windows is fully responsive and functional on such a small device.

It also sparks curiosity about the potential broader applications of Windows on ARM in the wearable market. Could this experiment pave the way for smartwatches and other wearables to take on tasks currently handled by smartphones or even laptops? While this project is purely experimental, it certainly opens the door for further exploration.

I could certainly think of one application: gaming smartphones. Forget handheld consoles, and let’s try full-on gaming on mobile phones. Or turning our smartphones into fully fledged computers.

PS: The developer released the blog post on April 1st, but they say it’s not a joke. You can read more about it here.