Release windows xp for the pandora... sorta...

[wemcott]

while doing my normalbrowsing for cool DIY and modding projects I found this little gem: http://www.trickspedia.com/tips/how-to-run-windows-xp-from-a-usb-stick/

an open source Windows XP clone, that fits on a flash drive.

Now granted, this still requires all the same as an official XP build, so yes, that means no ARM architecture built in. But if it were that easy, would we really bother? nope!, that's why I'm already well underway in some really deep coding (instead of y'know... studying for my finals, because I'm just that type of dude) to get it ported to the pandora. I'll be working on it very sporadically so if anyone else would like to chip in or do figure it out on your own, be my guest, you'll probably get it done faster than I, but I will get it done eventually if someone else doesn't first. if I can get a good alpha running, I'll order a beagleboard to get some real testing done, unless my preordered panda comes to me first.

 

[gruso]

Interesting. But I'm not really clear on what it is. Is it Linux based?

The only danger I can see is a bunch of people thinking they'll now be able run Halo.

 

[WizardStan]

And what is the intended goal of this project?
Supposing you get "Windows XP" running on it, what do you think it will have accomplished? It won't be able to run any existing Windows applications: they're still all compiled for x86 processors.

 

[Tom`]

It's a little hard to read the article, but it seems to be talking about BartPE, which is a very handy tool, but... it's not open source, it's not a Windows XP clone, and porting it would be impossible, as well as essentially useless. It does indeed allow you to create a customized copy of Windows that will boot off a CD or USB stick - but it's still Windows XP, and thus will not run on the Pandora. The program to actually build the image is similarly proprietary, and moreover it requires an actual Windows installation (or disc). So it would be theoretically possible to write a similar piece of software that would read from a drive plugged into the USB port, or a disk image, and create the liveCD it still wouldn't make Windows run on the Pandora - all it does (basically) is copy files around.

 

[Sonict]

I have used BartPE before. It has been useful from time to time for me. At any rate, it won't be running on the Pandora so yeah...

 

[second exodous]

Are you afraid to use anything but windows? I know it's cool for people to get Linux to run on devices it's not meant for, but why go the other way? Is it cool to have windows running on devices that don't have it pre-installed?

I hate doing a clean install of windows not from a restore disk that came with a prebuilt computer, why would you want to put yourself through such pain? What runs on your full size XP box that you would want to run on the Pandora?

I remember thousands of threads where people were saying they wanted windows to run on the GP2X, I JUST DON'T GET IT, please explain it to me.

 

[WizardStan]

please explain it to me.

I'm 99% positive that 99% of those that want Windows think that it will give them the instant ability to run Windows games.

 

[Dauric]

This kind of thing would be useful to me if I was to convert my office to Linux, since I work with technophobes that think Linux is future-shock demon-spawn. I doubt that it has any real purpose for the Pandora.

 

[mindlord]

Will not work under any circumstances.
End of Line.

 

[WizardStan]

This kind of thing would be useful to me if I was to convert my office to Linux, since I work with technophobes that think Linux is future-shock demon-spawn. I doubt that it has any real purpose for the Pandora.

There are a number of XP Styled linux instances available. I've read a few reviews and the most common reaction is that the only difference they noticed between this and an actual XP install was fewer crashes.

 

[Dauric]

This kind of thing would be useful to me if I was to convert my office to Linux, since I work with technophobes that think Linux is future-shock demon-spawn. I doubt that it has any real purpose for the Pandora.

There are a number of XP Styled linux instances available. I've read a few reviews and the most common reaction is that the only difference they noticed between this and an actual XP install was fewer crashes.

Yeah, Ive looked at a few, and UserFriendly has a few comics about Stef Murky being tricked in to using them. There's no pressing need to do a migration in my office at the moment, and that's a lot of overtime I wouldn't be paid for at the moment.

My point though is that the setup mentioned above would be more useful in a "Stealth Migration" scenario rather than on the Pandora.

 

[atomicthumbs]

BartPE is a stripped down version of Windows XP. It won't run on the Pandora, even with "coding". Go study for your finals.

 

[Meigus]

I think you'd just be far better off trying to run wine on pandora. Although wine was incredibly slow, the newer versions (I think after like 1.2 or something) run very fast (at least within 3/4s the maximum windows run rate), and have significant compatibility and lower overhead.

Not to mention wine is already developed. If you wanted your own windows+x86 interpreter, you'd have to go from scratch.

 

[guenthar]

If you want a Windows XP clone there is one and it is called ReactOS. You can get it from http://www.reactos.org/

 

[cb88]

@guenthar first off... no reactOS doesn't have an ARM port (yet) second even if it did it wouldn't run normal windows applications only those built for arm and possibly windows CE

Chip or somebody please lock this thread to prevent further gravedigging of an already discussed to death topic