There are some very succesful working methods accessible for the Raspberry Pi 5 single-board laptop — Raspbian and Ubuntu are two that come to thoughts — but some Pi 5 homeowners should still wish to load on Windows 11 for the added utility it will probably present.

Common causes for doing so are many and diversified. For instance, you might wish to faucet Windows’ all-around usefulness for working throughout a number of purposes for house automation tasks. Or, you might wish to undertake Windows-based coding tasks, or extra simply management {hardware} you’ve linked to a Raspberry Pi 5 for hobbies or small enterprise tasks.

Luckily for such customers, it’s attainable to load an early ARM-based model of Windows 11 on the Pi 5. Although, there’s one caveat: Unlike Windows 10 ARM on Raspberry Pi 4, Windows 11 ARM is at present only a pre-release construct, so for those who make the leap now, some issues might not work. That mentioned, some proficient of us have discovered inventive workarounds to generally encountered issues, so don’t let any quirks cease you.

Further studying: Raspberry Pi 5 review

Windows 11 on the Raspberry Pi 5

The pre-release model of Windows 11 ARM runs in a short time on the extra highly effective Raspberry Pi 5, in comparison with its predecessor the Raspberry Pi 4, due to the mini PC’s 3x quicker CPU efficiency.

To provide you with a way of the performance you may entry on Windows 11 ARM on Raspberry Pi 5, apps like Steam, VLC, and Spotify, all work. Like Windows 10 on Raspberry Pi 4, the Windows 11 ARM OS is suitable with x32 and x64 bit apps though the Pi 5 is an ARM-based PC, which considerably broadens the scope of what you will get working at this early stage.

To be trustworthy, although, the OS continues to be fairly restricted. Only a handful of straightforward video games will work. It additionally doesn’t assist sound and there are not any Wi-Fi drivers accessible. Ethernet is also a no-go.

To be certain, there are workarounds for these final two issues. For sound, a USB sound card can give you audio. You also can get the web up and operating by USB-tethering your Pi 5 to an Android smartphone. So, you needn’t miss out on browsing the net.

Is the set up troublesome?

Installing Windows 11 ARM to run on Raspberry Pi 5 is kind of concerned. Not solely do you’ll want to obtain and set up the newest model of Windows 11 ARM, however you additionally have to obtain UEFI drivers and the Windows on Raspberry Pi Imager as properly.

The official Windows 11 ARM 64 pre-release is obtainable for obtain from Microsoft’s web site, though to obtain it you will want to be a member of the corporate’s Windows Insider Program. You’ll additionally have to have useful two storage drives to finish the set up.

There are a number of too many steps for me to enter on this article, however for an intensive rundown on set up Windows 11 ARM, I discovered this tutorial by Lee at leepspvideo useful.

Installing Windows 11 ARM is an effective option to familiarize your self with Windows 11 ARM on Raspberry Pi 5 whereas eagerly awaiting an official launch of the OS. So, give it a go at the moment!