Is it possible for a copy of Windows to run on a Raspberry Pi?

Oh cool, I didn't know that.

If you could get ahold of the ARM version of Windows 8 you could probably run it straight on the Pi, the problem is it is only available to OEMs. This has been mentioned on the Raspberry Pi website. That leaves x86 emulation and remote desktop. Emulation would be horribly slow on any versoin of Windows XP and up. You could brobably run Windows 95 through DOS Box or something like that, but remote desktop is probably the best option if you already have a computer with Windows running on it and a decent network speed.

Alex Ferm wrote:

 

If you could get ahold of the ARM version of Windows 8 you could probably run it straight on the Pi,

Could you though ?  Start with simple questions like whether any drivers for the Pi's unique hardware are available, does the GPU support DirectX 10 for example. Then move on to the Pi not having UEFI, so you're unable to even boot Win8.

That's all before you work out if Win8 will even run on an ARMv6.  Drivers/UEFI could probably be fixed by the RPF or Broadcom if they felt it was worth the investment.  Should Win8 require NEON or something else that's not in ARMv6 then you're stuffed, only MS could fix that.

There's a post here http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/winappswithnativecode/thread/72588182-d22c-417e-836f-77ddec78ee38 from a MS employee that suggests win 8 on Arm will require NEON, but it's difficult to know for sure as there doesn't appear to be an official list of hardware requirements.  Likely due to it only being available for OEM's to preinstall on their hardware, there's no need for this sort of info to be available.

Anyway, in the RPF FAQ and forums:

http://www.raspberrypi.org/faqs

http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2557

http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=22164

http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2898

http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=7231

http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5392http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=5331

http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=5331

http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=41071

Worth a read for entertainment value, but not much else, and just put 'windows 8' into their search box for a ton more.

TL;DR; version, when the folks in the RPF who designed the Pi say 'No'....

No but there is a YouTube page showing a software called magnum pi so search on YouTube for windows on a raspberry pi and choose the university of Cambridge

No but there is a YouTube page showing a software called magnum pi so search on YouTube for windows on a raspberry pi and choose the university of Cambridge

Lets be clear.  That YT video is not showing Windows running on RPi.

It's showing Windows running on some other computer, which is networked to RPi. 

you are all rong as a programer in it i understand that operating systems work on 01 (bianary) if you downlode mac you run 01 to run funchons linik 01 and windows 01 if you were to use windows you have to make it so its on the harddrive by the logic you are explaning you can have linix on a mac and mac cant read webpages that are in windows html and linix cant script for a windows so you ship is bull crafp kid find some one else to talk to it may tack yeasrs but find a emulater that runs on the rasberian and makes a program that acts like windows 7 it adds a exer os for you and you can run it in your hot line to save cpu and cpu is rong it will only run wut its got to get more cup just get a bigger hard drive for example 8 gb isent enuff get a 64 gb then a tarabight external hardrive to confinscat for the lack of ran and your good

Ok sorry my bad im only 14 and i now understand that it was a client that was ported through a master windows server on the network sorry.

No worries Hayeden

Outside of the basic differences of which some are listed above

it often comes down to the resources. Look at the minimal requirements for Windows 8, now compare to the specs of the PI. Even if the CPU, Hardware and everything else was compatible (Which it is NOT)  it would take so long to boot and do anything it would not be worth it. The best you could hope for is to use it as a remote console to a windows desktop that could be anywhere in the world. I have successfully used android, IOS and other mobile devices in such a scenario. but to run windows locally on the PI... no way, in an emulator... do you have a year to wait for it to boot

Actually, with a lot of work, it is possible to run a very striped down version of xp on a pi. I do not recommend it though, it is a huge pain to set up and doesn't work properly because of all the things that need to be removed. As a technical exercise it isn't worth wasting your time

As someone who works on embedded platforms I have two things to say:

1. Please, spell correctly so other people can understand you
2. We know computers work on binary, however the problem is how said computer translates that from Assembly/C/C++/what-have-you into binary code. Everything you have said is incorrect. Also, there is no such thing as "Windows HTML". HTML is a markup language that browsers are built to read, and that includes Safari, Firefox, Chrome, IE, etc. Unless you are talking about ASP.NET, which still returns HTML, that is incorrect. Second, hard-drives cannot supply RAM, but they can supply a small amount of swap space. Third, why bother with a program that emulates Windows 7? It would takes years to do and it would not be worth it. In addition, the Pi would not be up to such a task. (See point 2).

A final point - if you want to argue against this, go ahead. Because me and a few other people on this community CAN prove you wrong. The way you spoke to the person here trying to learn was downright rude, and your mistakes have been pointed out.

TL;DR, do not tell someone to "find someone else to talk to" when you yourself do not know about the subject.