Nintendo Switch Runs Windows 11: A Novelty or the World's Slowest PC?

The Nintendo Switch is primarily designed for gaming, which means its chip performance isn't exactly top-tier. Naturally, it runs on Nintendo's proprietary operating system, and users generally can't install other operating systems on it.

However, a user by the handle @PatRyk on X/Twitter has posted images of successfully running Windows 11 on the Switch. The good news? It indeed works. The bad news, as joked by netizens: scientists have discovered the world's slowest PC.

In reality, the user installed the ARM version of Windows 11 using KVM on the Switch, which uses an ARM-based chip. However, given the chip's performance is significantly lower compared to PC processors, and considering the added layer of KVM virtualization, lag was inevitable.

The installation of Windows 11 alone took a whopping three hours. While it was indeed operational during the installation, even a simple click on the start menu button took 10 seconds to respond.

Clearly, you can't expect to run other software or games within the Windows 11 VM on the Switch. Installation and startup might work fine, but the prolonged lag will likely test your patience soon enough.

One user managed to start Windows 11 on the Switch, but every operation takes 10 seconds to respond.

The user also tested installing Steam on Windows 11, a process that took 2 hours. As for downloading and installing other games through Steam, one can only guess how much longer that would take.

Steam itself isn't particularly large; it's primarily the Chromium package that adds to the installation time. Thus, it's reasonable to assume that the mentioned two hours were mostly spent on installing Steam and Chromium. Similarly, installing Chrome might also take about 1 to 2 hours.