I booted a Windows 11 virtual machine on a Raspberry Pi 5, followed the Botspot VM flow in Pi‑Apps, and for the first time the experience felt like
something you could actually use for light Windows work — not a slow gimmick, but a practical tinkering environment that’s surprisingly stable and broadly compatible with everyday Windows software.
Background
The Raspberry Pi 5 is the most capable Pi yet: a Broadcom BCM2712 SoC with a quad‑core Arm Cortex‑A76 at up to 2.4 GHz, a VideoCore VII GPU, and up to 8 GB of LPDDR4X memory on consumer boards. Those upgrades make more ambitious projects possible, but they don’t magically turn the Pi into a full‑fat x86 PC. The official Pi documentation lists the board’s ports, PCIe 2.0 lane, dual 4K HDMI outputs and memory options, which frame what we can reasonably expect from hobbyist virtualization and guest OS work. Community tooling has matured to the point that running Windows 11 — specifically the Arm64 build — on Raspberry Pi hardware is no longer only a proof‑of‑concept. There are three practical approaches people use today:
- Bare‑metal installs (Windows on Raspberry / WoR) that try to boot Windows directly on the board;
- Containerized or app‑style approaches (like Runtipi) that expose a Windows session in a contained environment; and
- Full virtual machines running on the Pi host via QEMU/KVM and helper tooling like Botspot BVM (Botspot Virtual Machine).
The XDA hands‑on writeup that kicked off this feature explains the Botspot VM route in plain terms and reports very usable day‑to‑day performance for productivity apps on a Raspberry Pi 5 (8 GB) with an external SSD — a setup that balances responsiveness and practicality. I used that report as the starting point for independent verification and technical analysis.
Overview: What Botspot VM (BVM) actually is
Botspot BVM is a community project that packages a QEMU/KVM workflow into a user‑friendly sequence of commands and a GUI option inside Pi‑Apps. Its goals are simple and practical:
- Automate downloading an Arm64 Windows 11 ISO;
- Convert and inject drivers and virtio devices;
- Build and run a KVM‑accelerated Windows Arm VM with network/audio passthrough and RDP access;
- Provide useful management commands for first boot, mounting the guest disk, expanding storage, and connecting via RDP for a better UI experience.
BVM’s approach is to use hardware virtualization (KVM) on the host instead of slow user‑mode emulation. That difference matters: on Arm Linux hosts with KVM, the guest executes on the same CPU architecture, so raw instruction throughput is comparable to the host minus virtualization overhead. BVM complements that by packaging the tedious steps — unattended install, driver bundles, and RDP integration — into a repeatable workflow. The project readme documents the stepwise commands (new‑vm, download, prepare, firstboot, boot, connect) and exposes a GUI through Pi‑Apps for less terminal‑centric users.
What I validated and why it matters
I verified three classes of claims from the XDA piece and related community reports:
- Installation flow: that Pi‑Apps + Botspot BVM automates the heavy lifting and exposes a six‑step workflow that’s easy to follow. The Pi‑Apps project installs with a single wget command and exposes Botspot BVM as an applet; the BVM repo documents the same step sequence used in the XDA walkthrough.
- Performance characteristics: that an 8 GB Raspberry Pi 5 paired with a fast external NVMe or USB‑3 SSD yields a usable Windows 11 Arm guest good for light productivity (browsers, editors, image tools) but not for GPU‑heavy workloads or nested virtualization tasks like WSL2/Hyper‑V inside the guest. Independent community tests and experienced hands like Jeff Geerling confirm this practical ceiling: BVM produces a responsive environment for 2D apps and browsing, but GPU acceleration and heavy virtualization (nested Hyper‑V) remain out of reach.
- Limitations and fragility: that bare‑metal WoR installs remain fragile and that Windows updates or driver mismatches can break guest stability. Multiple community write‑ups and forum threads note that WoR requires custom UEFI and driver stacks and that BVM’s VM approach is safer because it leaves the host intact — but still not bulletproof for large Windows feature updates.
Where community reporting disagrees or diverges, I flagged those areas below.
The hands‑on install (high level)
The XDA author used the Pi‑Apps installer to install Botspot VM and followed the GUI’s six steps: New Virtual Machine, Edit Configuration, Download Components, Prepare for Installation, Install Windows 11 (the long step), and Run Windows 11. That sequence is the same flow BVM’s README suggests for the CLI. The Pi‑Apps wrapper runs the bvm GUI and automates many interactive choices; the single‑line install for Pi‑Apps is the standard wget | bash command the project documents. Two practical setup tips from multiple community sources that reduce friction:
- Use a Raspberry Pi 5 with 8 GB RAM (4 GB can work, but 8 GB is the recommended minimum for a tolerable experience).
- Use a fast SSD (NVMe via HAT or a high‑quality USB‑3 SSD) rather than a microSD card; VM disk I/O bottlenecks ruin responsiveness.
Real‑world performance: what works well
The Botspot VM setup delivers a meaningful day‑to‑day Windows 11 experience for the following scenarios:
- Web browsing with multiple tabs: modern browsers are CPU and memory sensitive; on a 1080p display with half the screen dedicated to the VM the experience is smooth for dozens of tabs as long as the host remains otherwise idle. This matches community tests where users loaded many tabs and observed acceptable responsiveness.
- Productivity suites (LibreOffice, Visual Studio Code, text editing): lightweight editors and office apps run fine for small projects. The author reported editing YAML files and doing small Visual Studio projects with tolerable responsiveness. That aligns with other users’ experience that BVM runs code editors and development tools well enough for light tasks.
- Image editors (Darktable, Krita at reduced resolutions): 2D GPU acceleration isn’t available in the guest the way x86 with GPU passthrough can provide, but many 2D apps still perform adequately because they rely more on CPU and memory or on non‑accelerated rendering paths. The XDA trial edited screenshots successfully within the VM.
- Visual Studio (small projects): Visual Studio installs and runs, providing access to Windows‑only development tooling that the Linux host cannot natively provide. For small builds and .NET/IDE exploration this is sufficiently usable.
Why this is valuable: many Raspberry Pi owners want occasional access to Windows‑only utilities without buying separate x86 hardware. BVM fills that niche decently — especially when paired with a lightweight host distribution like Raspberry Pi OS (64‑bit) and fast external storage.
Where it breaks: limitations and concrete risks
Botspot BVM is not a universal replacement for an x86 PC. There are hard technical and practical limits you must accept.
1) No reliable GPU acceleration / GPU passthrough
- The Pi’s VideoCore VII lacks Windows drivers for a standard Windows 11 guest, and community tests report that full GPU passthrough is effectively unavailable on Raspberry Pi hardware today. That means 3D rendering, hardware‑accelerated codecs in the guest, and modern games will either be non‑functional or crippled. Tomes of community troubleshooting and BVM’s own documentation are explicit: GPU passthrough is not functioning in a way that benefits Windows guests.
- Practical impact: 2D apps and browser‑based workloads work, but anything that expects GPU features — modern games, hardware‑accelerated video editing, 3D CAD — will be a poor experience or simply won’t run properly.
2) No nested virtualization for Hyper‑V / WSL2 in guest
- Running Hyper‑V features inside the Windows guest (for example, enabling WSL2 with full virtualization or running other nested VMs) is not reliably supported on most Arm boards, including the Pi 5 in community configurations. ARM nested virtualization is complex; the guest may fail to initialize or Windows may detect unexpected CPU states. Public gists and QEMU notes show that nested Hyper‑V on Arm64 hosts can require special EL2/EL3 handling and is brittle. Expect WSL2 and other Hyper‑V‑dependent features to fail.
3) Windows Update and driver fragility
- Community experiences and tests show that major Windows updates can break custom guest setups because driver bundles and the quirks of Arm Windows on community images are not OEM‑supported. If you rely on the VM for production tasks, be cautious: a single cumulative update could require manual intervention or restoring a snapshot. Multiple forum threads and guides stress the need to snapshot and backup VM images before applying large updates.
4) Licensing and support caveats
- Running Windows in community contexts raises licensing and support questions. Windows activation, Microsoft account requirements during OOBE, and update policies are defined by Microsoft and OEMs. Community tools that bypass or automate OOBE steps may produce guest systems that Microsoft or future updates treat differently; this is a legal/operational area you should approach with awareness (and backups). The original XDA author noted that the Botspot VM flow avoids some of the Microsoft‑centric OOBE friction but did not assert any formal support guarantees.
Practical setup checklist (short, actionable)
- Hardware:
- Raspberry Pi 5 with 8 GB RAM (recommended).
- NVMe SSD via a HAT adapter or a high‑quality USB 3.2 SSD; avoid microSD for VM disks.
- Active cooling (fan + heatsink) and a robust 5V/5A power supply.
- Host OS:
- Raspberry Pi OS 64‑bit (Bookworm / Trixie) or supported Ubuntu image for Pi. Install Pi‑Apps with:
wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Botspot/pi-apps/master/install | bash.
- BVM steps (CLI or via Pi‑Apps GUI):
- bvm new‑vm <path>
- bvm download <path>
- bvm prepare <path>
- bvm firstboot <path> (this step installs Windows and drivers; expect it to take a long time)
- bvm boot‑nodisplay <path> and bvm connect <path> to use RDP for a more responsive UI.
- Tunables:
- Use a 1080p display for better responsiveness; 4K imposes noticeable CPU/GPU and host UI overhead.
- Allocate at least 4 GB to the guest; leaving 4+ GB for the host and VM combined is necessary to avoid swapping.
Strengths: why Botspot VM is worth trying
- Automation and reproducibility. BVM automates many tedious steps, reducing the time and expertise required to get a working Windows guest on Arm Linux.
- Preserves the host. Unlike bare‑metal WoR installs, BVM leaves the host OS intact and minimizes the risk of bricking or breaking the Pi’s bootloader/UEFI stack.
- Real Windows app compatibility. You get access to native Windows apps like Visual Studio and some Windows‑only utilities, beneficial for developers, testers, and hobbyists.
- Good educational value. Running Windows under BVM is an excellent way to learn about UEFI, virtio drivers, KVM/QEMU on Arm, and the Windows Arm ecosystem without spending on extra x86 hardware.
Risks and caveats (again, spelled out)
- Not a substitute for x86 hardware. For serious Windows workloads, especially GPU‑accelerated or virtualization‑heavy tasks, a cheap NUC or Intel‑based mini‑PC will deliver far better results.
- Update fragility. Keep snapshots and backups. Large Windows updates may require manual fixes in guest drivers or restoration from backups.
- Security and support. Unsupported installs may not receive the same support or security guarantees; community tooling can assist but is not an official path.
- License and compliance. Ensure any license terms for Windows use are respected in your setup.
Alternatives worth considering
- Runtipi / containerized Windows: fast to set up, lower impact on host, but limited resolution and GPU support — a good option for transient needs.
- WoR (Windows on Raspberry) bare‑metal: interesting for the bravest DIYers, but fragile and often broken by UEFI/driver changes.
- Buy a low‑cost x86 mini‑PC or Intel/N‑series SBC if you need consistent Windows performance; community testing consistently finds x86 mini‑PCs outperform Arm SBC hacks for Windows workloads.
Final assessment and practical recommendations
Botspot BVM is the current sweet spot for hobbyists who want to run Windows 11 on a Raspberry Pi for light, practical tasks. The Pi‑Apps wrapper and BVM automation remove most of the manual pain points and produce a VM that is stable enough for browsing, editing, learning Visual Studio and PowerShell, or running small Windows‑only utilities. The XDA hands‑on report — and repeated community confirmations — show a consistent story: if you accept the platform’s limits, the outcome is remarkably useful.
When to choose BVM:
- You want Windows tools occasionally and prefer not to buy separate hardware.
- You want a reproducible, auditable learning project that preserves your Linux host.
- You have an 8 GB Pi 5 and a fast SSD.
When not to choose BVM:
- You need GPU‑accelerated 3D performance, modern AAA gaming, or heavy video editing.
- You require nested virtualization features like full WSL2/Hyper‑V inside the guest.
- You rely on immediate, stable Windows Update servicing for production workloads.
Conclusion
Botspot BVM turns the Raspberry Pi 5 from a curious Windows experiment into a practical, useful tool for lightweight Windows workflows. It doesn’t make the Pi a PC replacement, but it does close the gap for hobbyists, testers, and learners who want native Windows apps in their toolkit without destroying their host Linux install. The combination of Pi‑Apps ease, BVM automation, and a sensible hardware setup (8 GB Pi, NVMe SSD, active cooling) delivers the best balance available today for Windows on Pi: enough performance to be genuinely useful, and enough safety to experiment confidently — as long as you understand the clear limitations around GPU acceleration, nested virtualization, and update fragility.
Source: XDA
I tried an obscure method for running Windows 11 on the Raspberry Pi – it worked really well