For a long time it was thought that Microsoft would return to the cell phone market, and that ended up coming true with the Surface Duo. However, it uses an extremely modified Android, which leaves its look similar to the visual identity of Windows. But a Twitter user is trying to prove that the hardware can run Microsoft’s full OS.
In a demo video, Windows 11 appeared to start on the Surface Duo. It was able to complete the operating system boot, and even reach the desktop, visually with no apparent bugs.
— Gustave Monce (@gus33000) February 8, 2022
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The user, however, points out that many of the drivers are incompatible, which does not allow, for example, the use of the touchscreen. It was only possible to operate the Surface Duo with Windows through a kernel debugger connected remotely to the smartphone. So eager people who want to use the firmware on their own Microsoft phones will have to wait.
According to Gustavo Monce, he will be able to release the edited firmware to run on the Surface Duo when there is a minimum of usability by ordinary users. For now, the system is not even able to display an image on the device’s second screen.
The latest user optimizations involved considerable CPU gains when in Windows mode. Images posted on his profile show that performance has grown by up to 236% since the first tests. These gains, however, show more that he is managing to make the Snapdragon 855 compatible with the OS than actually pushing the limits of the Qualcomm chip.
android back there
It is worth remembering, the Surface Duo comes out of Microsoft’s stock with Android 10, and is upgradeable to Android 11. Unfortunately this took a long time to happen: the update only arrived in January of this year, more than a year after the system was made official by part of Google and already with Android 12 fully available on rival models.
As for Android 12, the latest rumors suggest that Microsoft can make up for the wait by jumping straight to Android 12L. It is the version of the OS designed for tablets and foldable models, with which Google intends to better compete in this segment with Apple. Since Android 3.0 Honeycomb the company has not designed a specific Android for larger screens.
