Updated DeviceTree Gets Microsoft Windows Dev Kit 2023 Booting Linux

Microsoft's Windows Dev Kit 2023 also known as "Project Volterra" was an early effor to improve the Windows on ARM support by developers via having a nice small form factor ARM PC to run Windows 11. With pending DeviceTree patches there would be mainline support for the Windows Dev Kit 2023 under Linux.

The Windows Dev Kit 2023 was built around a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 SoC, 32GB of LPDDR4x memory, 512GB NVMe storage, running Windows 11 Pro, and all within a 8 x 6 x 1.1 inch cube. It was nice for the time but the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3 has since been surpassed by the Qualcomm Snapdragon X1 Elite SoC found in various modern laptops and other devices with much more capabilities.

Like the ongoing upstreaming around the Snapdragon X1 device support, the Microsoft Windows Dev Kit 2023 is still working its way toward mainline kernel support. Posted on Friday were the latest DT patches for getting the Windows Dev Kit 2023 running with Linux. Features known to be working under Linux right now with this ARM developer PC include:

- USB type-c and type-a ports
- minidp connector
- built-in r8152 Ethernet adapter
- PCIe devices
- nvme
- ath11k WiFi (WCN6855)
- WCN6855 Bluetooth
- A690 GPU
- Venus codec
- ADSP and CDSP
- GPIO keys
- Audio definition (works via USB)

It's hardly worth seeking out the Windows Dev Kit 2023 at the end of 2023 for an ARM PC, but if you happen to have one laying around, new possibilities may be opened up by loading Linux on it.