Owners of the best iPads have been clamoring for a true desktop operating system for years, to the point that the conversation feels a bit exhausting. Well, the wait is over. Apple changed its App Review Guidelines earlier this year to add retro game emulators. Originally, this policy shift didn't open the door to retro PC software emulators. When the desktop emulator UTM SE tried to get on the App Store, it didn't get the red-carpet welcome that fan favorites such as Delta and RetroArch received. Eventually, Apple came around to the idea, allowing UTM SE to run on iPhones, iPads, and even Apple Vision Pro.

So, with the UTM SE app, you can run desktop operating system on an iPad. However, I didn't have macOS or Windows 11 in mind. Instead, I fired up Windows XP and had a blast running the OS on my brand-new M4 iPad Pro. I'm not saying you should seriously use Windows XP on an iPad, but I can say that it was more fun than testing out the latest iPadOS 18 betas.

Getting started is a lengthy process

Installing and using Windows XP for the first time takes hours

Installing Windows XP as an emulated machine on my iPad Pro was a much more involved undertaking than I initially expected. Sure, the process of downloading the UTM SE app from the App Store is quick and easy. It's also free, and very compatible. The app will let you create emulation machines for x86, PowerPC, and RISC-V architectures, enabling operating systems like Windows XP but also ones like Mac OS 9.

However, everything else is a bit more complicated. You can start by downloading a pre-built machine from the UTM SE app, adding it to your files, and using it to create an emulation machine in the app. It'd be a bit nicer if you didn't need to leave the app and unzip a file to do this, but it isn't that tricky. Then, you need to find an ISO installer file Windows XP — I used the Internet Archive for that — so be careful where you download it from. Finally, you need to go into the emulation machine settings, look for the IDE Drive option, and point the ISO file to it. After that, running the emulation machine will boot up the Windows XP installer.

Next, you need to follow the on-screen prompts to get the Windows XP installer going. It requires the use of function keys, so you can call upon a virtual keyboard built into the UTM SE app to help you out. And then, you wait. It took forever for Windows XP to install on my M4 iPad Pro, which is plenty powerful. I'm used to long downloads — I have to download roughly a terabyte of apps and games every time I test out a new PC or laptop that's in for review — but this one was on another level. From start to finish, the process of setting up UTM SE and getting into Windows XP took roughly three hours.

The other thing you'll need to find is a Windows XP product key, which isn't impossible, but may require a bit of trial-and-error. All told, this is a time-consuming process that requires you to be slightly in the know. It's not for everyday people like Delta might be; however, it's still really fun for PC enthusiasts.

UTM SE might not be practically useful

But does that really matter?

Part of the reason that UTM SE is so slow, even on flagship iPads, is because it doesn't use a just-in-time (JIT) compiler. That isn't the fault of the app's developers — although Apple now permits emulators, it still doesn't allow JIT compilers — but it does have a real impact on performance. JIT compilers allow your device to understand the code it's about to execute before it actually does, and they go a long way to making things feel speedy. Still, if you remember how slow Windows XP machines were back in the day, this really isn't that bad.

It doesn't matter how slow Windows XP runs on your iPad, because the point isn't to actually get anything done on it. Aside from the fact that Windows XP is more than two decades old, it's also woefully insecure. The point is more to use Windows XP, or any other retro PC operating system, as a platform for retro gaming. With Windows XP, for example, you could play built-in games like Minesweeper and Pinball or titles such as Half-Life 2 or Battlefield 2.

I had a blast running Windows XP on my iPad

Oh, and I tried it on Apple Vision Pro, too

Windows XP actually predates me slightly — I grew up on Windows 7 and 8 systems, mostly — but there was still a sense of nostalgia running the OS on my iPad. It was fun to play games like Pinball and Minesweeper, and remember how bad I was at them. While not exactly a game by definition, I also enjoyed messing around with the Windows XP version of apps like Paint. Using programs such as Notepad reveals just how far Windows 11 has come today.

UTM SE runs on Apple Vision Pro, too, and boy was it jarring to be using Windows XP on a giant window in virtual reality. Oddly enough, I found that Windows XP ran better on Vision Pro than on my iPad. That's because moving the cursor in emulation on an iPad is tricky, while visonOS' pinch-and-hold gestures were much easier. Who would've thought we'd see Windows XP running on a VR headset with two 4K displays right in front of our eyeballs?

If you're a fan of Windows XP, or any other retro OS, I can highly recommend giving UTM SE a shot. It's free, although it's a test of patience. You can download the app for iOS, iPadOS, or visionOS below.