Nintendo Switch gets forced to run Windows 11, but it barely works

The Nintendo Switch has been around for quite a while now. As for its hardware, it’s even older than the game console. However, as the gaming handheld matured, players were able to find more and more ways to tinker with it. One good example would be what Twitter user PatRyk has shown off on Twitter, running Windows 11 on it.

Of course, the experience of installing the operating system and using it wasn’t as smooth as one would hope it to be. PatRyk used the ARM version of Windows 11 with KVM enabled, which took three hours to install. As for using the OS, even the basic tasks are very unresponsive.

It seems PatRyk wasn’t even able to run any game on the Nintendo Switch running Windows 11. But when a user asked if it could run Peggle, a very basic game, PatRyk responded with a video showing the game running at what seems to be less than 10 FPS, but it was on Ubuntu.

Worth noting that the Nintendo Switch (OLED curr. $324.95 on Amazon), with its proprietary operating system, can smoothly run a good number of AAA games, which includes Red Dead Redemption, DOOM Eternal, and Crysis 3. Another thing worth mentioning is that PatRyk could have a better run with Windows 11 if it was Tiny11 Core for ARM instead of the base OS.

But if you are to install any other operating system other than the Nintendo Switch’s proprietary one, it’s best to go for ARM Linux. As a recent video from Taki Udon on YouTube (embedded below) shows, the gaming handheld can handle resolutions of up to 4K on Linux.