Return of the legend: Windows XP on Apple Vision Pro – it’s possible!

If you’re not too deep into Apple and its MacOS, iOS platforms, there’s almost zero chance that you’ve never heard of Windows XP. And guess what: you could get Windows XP… on the Apple Vision Pro headset. It’ll cost you no more than $3499 and some spare time to fiddle around with the installation.

Mixed reality offers a whole new dimension to play with and may very well turn out to be the 2024 fun we didn’t know we needed. Cross-mixing operating systems with top-notch contemporary tech will surely pose a significant challenge for developers – we’ll explain why in just a moment – but if done correctly, should bring joy to the whole family.

There are some 20 weeks left until 2024 when the Apple Vision Pro (announced in June at WWDC) should be available in stores for the public. Right now, developers are busy behind the scenes building, testing, fixing and re-testing apps for the state-of-art mixed reality headset. Apple has already released the visionOS SDK to aid the app development process – it’s done on Mac. And someone, as 9to5Mac reported, succeeded in emulating a Windows XP virtual machine to visionOS (the operating system for the Vision Pro).

But why?

Ah, that’s the question – why bother? Maybe because Windows XP is something of a cult. One of the most beloved operating systems from Microsoft reigned supreme in the non-Mac world for a good period of time from 2001 until 2008. Of course, it had its fair share of shortcomings and bugs, but nowadays it’s looked upon as a reliable, stable and useful platform from simpler times.

There’s a video on X from UTM developers that shows the boot screen of Win XP and its legendary default wallpaper – you know, the one with the signature green hill and blue sky with white clouds. UTM is a system emulator and virtual machine host for iOS and macOS - that’s how you get Windows or Linux, for example, on a Mac machine or an iPhone.

Here’s the video:

There’s still much work to be done because as of now, there’s still no way to interact with the virtual machine after it’s booted. So, expect input support in the near future – that’s on the developers. UTM on visionOS is possible since Vision Pro’s operating system is based on iPadOS – which is already UTM-ready in terms of support.

Put your fingers on the Extended Reality

We’re just tiptoeing through the AR/VR/XR world, but Apple isn’t sleeping on the possibilities this new realm presents. The Cupertino giant is in the works of ensuring users’ entertainment. These $3499 headsets will sell far easier if they come equipped with nouvelle and exciting features and apps.

Apple might be working on a finger device for Vision Pro – it’s expected to give users a sense of touch while interacting with the AR/VR headset.