Running Windows XP on a Touchscreen MacBook

Windows XP, which was released in 2001 and received its latest software update almost 10 years ago, has been installed on various different devices over the years. As reported by XDA, a new experiment has now run Windows XP on a touch screen MacBook from 2011.

Experiment and Installation Process

Michael MJD, known for experimenting with relatively old technologies, acquired a MacBook that had its touch screen replaced for accessibility by Lingraphica a few weeks ago. Subsequently, the technology enthusiast decided to install Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 on the MacBook and document this experience on camera, which did not take long.

The 36-minute video shows Michael going through the quite challenging process of installing Windows XP on the touch MacBook using Apple’s Boot Camp software.

Michael managed to find a Windows driver from the Internet Archive (Hampshire Touch, TSHARC-12/10, USB) to work with the touch screen. However, he was surprised to see that the uncalibrated touch screen was recognized during the installation process.

Challenges Faced and Solutions

Windows XP Tablet PC Edition was released over twenty years ago. This version was designed to work on touch devices and could not be purchased separately. Not finding the tablet features on the device, Michael started to install a modified version of XP.

He suspected that the operating system somehow verified whether it was installed on a regular computer or a tablet before adding the Tablet PC Edition features. While trying to make the drivers work on the touch MacBook, he faced some issues during the installation. He had to fix a corrupted license text file while the screen driver was being installed.

After resolving the issues, he started exploring features like handwriting recognition in Windows Journal and Notepad. He also played a few rounds of Ink Ball and installed Half-Life.