The Windows 8 Surface Tablets are available in two versions – one using Intel x86 CPU and another using NVidia Tegra ARM CPU. As the latter isn’t an Intel x86 compatible processor, the version of Windows 8 (Windows RT) that’s on this hardware won’t run conventional Windows applications, it’s exclusively for running Metro apps that you download through the Microsoft app store.
But, now you can run conventional Windows applications on your ARM based Windows RT tablet too. An XDA developer Mamaich has released a new utility that lets you run full x86 Windows applications on ARM based Windows RT Surface tablets.
The utility, which is currently in beta, requires you to unlock (jailbreak/root) your Windows RT tablet to work. This tool emulates x86 instructions and passes Windows API calls to WinRT kernel with necessary modifications.
How to run full Windows applications on Windows RT tablet?
1. First, you need to unlock your device (read this tutorial to know how to unlock Surface tablet).
2. Once unlocked the device, download and install the Launch x86 MSI file (download link below), then run the “Launch x86 program” from the start menu.
3. Browse for an x86-exe file and press “Ok” to run it. The launcher would be minimized to tray; you may exit it any time.
If everything goes fine, you will see a black console window of “Peloader.exe” and after a few moments, your program would run.
Note that, this app is a beta build, so don’t expect it to run all of your programs. Currently it is tested with few Windows games like 3D Pinball, Heroes of Might and Magic 3 and some utilities like 7Zip and WinRAR. Also, this tool supports only 32-bit windows applications.
More details and download available at this XDA Forum thread.
