An independent developer has managed to hack a Calculator to
run Windows 10 operating system, but it’s not a basic or
scientific calculator that we normally use. According to the
photos, the device is actually the HP’s Prime Graphing
Calculator which comes with a touch screen interface, and good
industrial design.
The photos shared
by the developer Ben shows off Windows 10 IoT (Internet of
Things) edition running on the HP Prime Graphing Calculator.
Windows 10 is currently offered in nine separate editions,
ranging from Pro to Home to Enterprise. Windows 10 IoT
(Internet of Things) is another edition of the OS that
companies use on smaller devices with or without a display.
According to Ben, the calculator has been hacked to boot
Windows 10 IoT Core, which doesn’t offer full Windows
Shell experience but you can run Universal Windows Program
(UWP) apps and background processes. Devices like Glas
Thermostat and Raspberry Pi also use IoT Core.
“First boot attempt fails with some pre-OS error (i.e. not yet
exit UEFI Boot Services), since the screen is too small, I
can’t see error code right now; have to deal with the tape for
UART access,” dev noted who later managed to get access to
Windows Boot Manager and Windows 10’s boot UI.
It’s not clear how he managed to install Windows 10 on a
calculator which has only 256MB of RAM, but more details could
be shared in the coming days. It’s also worth noting that the
same hacker installed full Windows 10 on a Windows Phone and
OnePlus 6.
