While you can’t quite have the full Windows XP experience on a Raspberry Pi, this Linux Raspbian XP Professional operating system (OS) from Pi Lab definitely gets close. It’s designed to run on the Raspberry Pi 4, the only model powerful enough to handle it.
Linux Raspbian XP Professional comes with a number of features that are reminiscent of the old XP OS. It has a working Start Menu complete with a usable search bar at the top. All of the menus, icons and taskbars have the classic bubbly XP. They even included the complete LibreOffice suite in lieu of Microsoft Office needs.
Since this is Raspbian with an XP overlay, you won’t be able to run XP applications as-is. It is possible to run Windows software from that era, however. You just need the right emulator. If you want to run a native Windows application, you can use the built-in Windows 98 virtual machine.
The OS is preloaded with several emulation platforms, like BOX86, that can run old PC games. You can also take advantage of other emulators, such as DOSBox, Mupen64 and MAME (here’s how to run emulators on Raspberry Pi 4). By connecting a USB controller, the whole system doubles as a retro gaming console.
This is still a work in progress, so expect a few updates in the future. In the meantime, check out the current build and see what it’s all about. You can visit the official Pi Lab channel on YouTube for installation details and new editions.