It’s 2021 and Microsoft has almost finalized the Windows 10X build for public release. Many reports suggest that Windows 10X is OEM-ready and it’s going to be shipped later this year. So if you have been waiting to try the latest build of Windows 10X then we have got good news for you. The near-final build of Windows 10X has been leaked and you can run it on your PC right now. In fact, we tested the latest build of Windows 10X (20279) on our PC and it worked quite well. So if you are also interested then go ahead and find out how to run Windows 10X on your PC from our detailed guide below.

Here, we have explained all the steps in great detail so anyone can run Windows 10X Build 20279 on their PC. I would recommend you to go through all the points to get a better idea about the installation process. You can click on the link below to move to the relevant part.

  • Things to Know
  • Set Up Hyper-V
  • Run Windows 10X on Your PC
  • Run Windows 10X on AMD GPU
  • Windows 10X First Impressions

Things to Know

  • We are not going to install Windows 10X on physical hardware as the ISO image is not out yet. However, we can try the nearly-final build of Windows 10X through a virtual machine. Unlike the official emulator, the performance is much better on the virtual machine.
  • We are going to use a VHDX file (Hard disk image file) which can only be used on Microsoft’s Hyper-V application and it’s only available on Windows 10 Pro. So in tandem, you need Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, or Education to run Windows 10X on your PC.
  • Currently, you can’t run Windows 10X on third-party virtual machine applications such as VirtualBox, VMware, QEMU, etc.
  • Hardware virtualization support is mandatory through BIOS or UEFI.
  • If you have an AMD GPU then you can’t run Windows 10X virtual machine. However, we have found a workaround and you can find the solution below.

Set Up Hyper-V

  1. First off, you need to enable virtualization from your BIOS settings. While rebooting your PC, you need to press the BIOS key which will open the BIOS settings page. You can find the BIOS key from our below table. If the below key is not working then look for the specific BIOS key for your PC manufacturer on the internet.

  2. You have successfully enabled Hyper-V on your Windows 10 computer. To open it, just press the Windows key once and type “Hyper-V” in the search bar and you would find the application on top. Click on it.

  3. After that, give a name to the virtual machine. I have named it “Windows 10X”, but you can choose your own.

  4. Finally, click on “Finish“.

  5. Right-click on the virtual machine and choose “Connect“.

  6. If you want to stop the virtual machine then click on “Action” at the top-row menu and choose “Turn off“.

Currently, there is no way to run the Windows 10X VM without disabling the AMD GPU altogether. You will have to use the integrated GPU that comes with the Intel chipset to run Windows 10X. And yes, the performance will take a hit due to the lack of a powerful GPU. Nevertheless, if you want to taste the finalized version of Windows 10X on an AMD GPU then here is how to go about it.

  1. Right-click on the Start Menu and open “Device Manager“.

Windows 10X, in its near-final version, is unlike anything that we have experienced in a Microsoft product. It’s polished right from the boot screen to the onboarding setup. In terms of design and aesthetics, Microsoft has really done a great job and developed a consistent UI across the board. Some would say that it looks like Chrome OS and that would be partly true. However, I am happy that Microsoft ventured to bring a lightweight OS to the masses.

Now coming to the million-dollar question: does the final build of Windows 10X support Win32 apps? Unfortunately, there is no support for legacy Windows apps on Windows 10X. It’s surprising though. In an earlier build of Windows 10X, there was support for Win32 apps through the container so why Microsoft removed it is beyond our understanding.

Also, it’s hilarious that you can run legacy Windows apps on Chromebook via Wine, but can’t run native Windows apps on Windows 10X. Hopefully, before the final release or a year down the line, we might get legacy app support through improved x86 emulation. For now, I can say that it performs really well, has beautiful UI and animations, but the lack of Win32 apps (even containerized) might push the much-hyped OS to oblivion just like Window 10S.

So that is how you can run Windows 10X on your Windows 10 PC and explore the new UI that is most likely coming to Windows 10 users through the Sun Valley update. Since I use Chromebook as my daily driver, I found the Windows 10X experience strikingly similar to Chrome OS. And that is not a bad thing.