Despite Microsoft’s best efforts, a crafty hacker has got their latest tablet OS Windows RT running on a mobile, the HTC HD2.
The phone has 4.3” capacitive screen with a resolution of 480×800 and features a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with 512MB RAM.
It’s important to note here that Windows RT is not like a traditional version of Windows that can be purchased on a disc or download. It is an OS that comes pre-installed on tablet PCs such as the Microsoft Surface. Even if one has the requisite ARM-based hardware with the correct amount of RAM, there is simply no way to get a setup of Windows RT without some kind of special deal with Microsoft.
Ripping the ROM from one phone and adapting it to run on another isn’t unheard of, and has happened with the Android OS as well. Android of course is open source, so the process is likely to be easier. In this case the hacker would have had to not only get Windows RT from a tablet onto a phone with a different hardware configuration, but also get the OS to boot in the first place, which is easier said than done with the whole new secure boot system.
The HTC HD2 phone, on which the hacker got Windows RT was running, is now three years old, having come out in 2009. It originally featured the Windows Mobile 6.5 OS, and Microsoft does not even officially support Windows Phone 7 on it.
The HTC HD2 has been a popular phone for such experimentation, and already runs numerous operating systems such as Android, Windows Phone and MeeGo.
