Skip to main content

Microsoft applauds Windows RT jailbreaker, hints at future fix

Microsoft applauds Windows RT jailbreaker, hints at future fix

Share this story

start button
start button

Microsoft's Windows RT operating system finally got its very own jailbreak earlier this week and now the Redmond-based software giant has responded and applauded those involved. While Microsoft debates the usability of the jailbreak, a spokesperson was quick to "applaud the ingenuity of the folks who worked this out and the hard work they did to document it," in a statement to The Verge today.

The process involved for running desktop apps on Windows RT is fairly complex, and Microsoft acknowledges that it's "not something the average user could, or reasonably would, leverage as it requires local access to a system, local administration rights and a debugger in order to work." The company is also not guaranteeing that the vulnerability "will be there in future releases" of Windows RT, indicating that it plans to patch the flaw in future.

Right now it's still unclear how useful the ability to run ARM desktop apps is within Windows RT. With a hole available we could see some future homebrew ARM-based desktop apps, but Microsoft's hint at a fix in future turns this into a cat and mouse game with those wishing to run non Windows 8-style apps on a Windows RT system.