Do you remember Tiny11? The new version of Windows 11 with a bloat load removed, which works on older, less capable PCs? Well, now it’s possible to run the simplified OS on a Raspberry Pi.
This exploit is because the developer (NTDEV) created an installer for Tiny11 ARM64 (opens in a new tab)and our partner site Tom’s Hardware (opens in a new tab) went ahead and put this build on a Raspberry Pi 4.
Just to remind you, the Pi 4 is a simple computer (well, a board to be precise) with 2 GB of RAM (which is the minimum required for Tiny11) and a processor that runs at 1.5 GHz.
And the main news is that Tiny11 works, although Tom’s wouldn’t recommend installing it on a microSD card – as it’s too slow – but rather on a USB stick.
Even so, the deflated version of Windows 11 worked fine – well, pretty much – allowing apps to be launched, and e.g. Microsoft Edge was running, and web pages could be browsed, although things like images took a while to render.
Analysis: a small slice of Pi edible, but not tasty
It’s not a huge surprise to see Tiny11 running on a Raspberry Pi 4, given that we’ve seen it run successfully with a ridiculously small amount of system RAM before.
However, while Tiny11 was usable on the Pi 4, the performance wasn’t fast enough to be acceptable for everyday use. So, installing Windows 11 this way is more of an interesting experience than a hands-on application of Microsoft’s stripped-down version of the operating system.
There are other issues here aside from bogged down performance, and that includes questionable wireless connectivity: Tom noted that the Pi’s Wi-Fi didn’t work with Tiny11, and while a Bluetooth connection could be established with success, it didn’t work for sending. files on. Connecting via an Ethernet connection, however, allowed access to the Internet.
Tiny11 for ARM64 is still very rough around the edges, so although that’s to be expected, and indeed, several early fixes have already been rolled out, including one for a bug that caused the installation to fail.
