Enthusiast Alfonso Torres, known by the alias We1etu1n, shared a photo on Reddit of a Nintendo Switch running Windows XP. The operating system, which is now 18 years old, took 6 hours to install, but Pinball 3D was able to run at full speed.
It has been reported that the operating system used was L4T Ubuntu and the QEMU virtual machine, which emulates various CPU architectures. According to Torres, L4T Ubuntu recognizes the Nintendo Switch dock as a USB-C hub, allowing a USB keyboard, mouse, and monitor to be connected to the console. The device has enough power for everyday tasks, so the enthusiast used it as a home computer for some time.
It is worth noting that L4T Ubuntu is based on NVIDIA's Linux project for the Tegra processor. Additionally, running Windows XP has become somewhat of a tradition in the enthusiast community, similar to the desire to run Doom on devices it was never intended for, from oscilloscopes to a car's onboard computer.
Torres clarified that the QEMU virtual machine emulates a single-core 32-bit x86 processor with a clock speed of 1 GHz, which is sufficient for operation. Essentially, the only drawback is the lack of sound, likely due to driver issues.
Recall that previously another developer and Xbox fan managed to run an emulator of the original Microsoft console on the Nintendo Switch. He demonstrated gameplay of Halo: Combat Evolved and Jet Set Radio Future. Before that, the console had already run , RetroArch, and Android.
