Okay, after searching the web for like ever... I have yet to come across a thread or a site with this as its topic. so here's my question:

Can the Nokia be modified to run other operating systems like Windows or Mac?

In my opinion, I believe that it can because there are many add-ons and support programs out there for the nokia 770. For example, bluetooth keyboard, mouse support, USB support (limited). I'm thinking that if we mess around with the OS or install an x86 emulator, it will be possible to run a proprietary operating system.

Please leave any comments, opinions, information, related sites or threads that may be of some assistance. Thank you.

Just a quick thought...

I don't think Windows can run on an ARM based device. Maybe (a big maybe) something like a Windows Mobile or PalmOS emulator, or even the actual OS could work. I am not much of a developer, but I think full Windows is not really possible at all.

why would you want to??

Bochs (an open source emulator) has been already compiled for PSP, and has been shown that even the 32MB of a PSP is enough to boot a simple image (yes-you need an image of a pre-installed OS on a PC) .. a simple image like FreeDOS. But, I do not think Win98-2k would be fast enough coz' emulators slow everything down not to mention that more than 50% of our RAM is occupied right after booting, plus add the emulator and your image...
btw how much mem does win occupy after booting...? so, maybe DOS....

I used to do minimal system programmng long time ago.. An OS is typically designed around a specific family of hardware or processor.

There's a reason for everything. Cost was probably a factor. How much OS and features to implement with given hardware and keep price low.

While I'm not certain on reason for current platform, Linux was probably implemented because of performance and security for the given hardware at the best consumer price.

To paraphrase, why would you want to?

Standard, desktop Windows will not run properly in 64MB of RAM. MacOS X will not run properly in 64MB of RAM. Your 770 has 64MB of RAM, which can not be upgraded.

The CPU in the 770 runs at about 220MHz. Emulators make things slower. There are few current operating systems that can run tolerably on a 220MHz CPU.

Running an emulator? I'm sure it would be possible to emulate Windows 3.1 on your 770, but even then it would be extremely slow and unusable.

The USB and Bluetooth stuff you mentioned is nifty, but has nothing at all to do with running an alternate operating system on the 770.

The only useful thing you'll get out of running some other OS on the 770 is geek bragging rights. If you want that, get NetBSD or OpenBSD to run on it.

it should be possible to run amiga and stos under emulators though. There are atleast working on symbian mobiles

Well, being the windows junky I am (sorry, don't mean to diss linux or mac), I just thought it would be cool if it could handle Windows. If I did get it to run Windows, I would try to mess arond with it and stuff, so no particular test or anything like that...

Since Windows 95 has been compiled to run on PSP, I just wanted to know if it was possible...

Oh and btw, the PSP has an ARM processor and can be configured to run Windows so, it should be able to run Windows... Right?..

Technically, there should be no reason why Windows CE 4.X.net could not be easily ported (or even run straightforwardly) on the 770. Its main architecture is not that different from e.g. the Siemens SimPad SL4, which can run WinCE and embedded Linux.

As an owner of both a Wince-d SL4 and a 770, my reaction to the original question is: Why? For the love of Bog, why!?

Trust me...

the PSP does NOT have an arm processor, and win has NOT been ported to it,
but a Win95 image(!) was loaded into a bochs emulator.
what was ported to PSP, is bochs but still, if you've seen that page of that guy
doing it (http://www.hacker.co.il/psp/bochs/)
he says booting more than 10mins(!!!), no keyboard support, etc, etc....

ok, well, let somebody compile bochs for the 770 and we will try the rest out.
http://bochs.sourceforge.net/

btw, maemo dict destroys the app-catalogue on my machine.
does it also on yours? (no more installation possible after installing the dict..)