Microsoft To Offer ‘Select’ Xiaomi Mi 4 Owners Opportunity To Convert From Android To Windows 10

Microsoft announced today that a “select group” of Xiaomi Mi 4 “power users” will given the opportunity to help test Windows 10. What makes this intriguing is that the Windows 10 will apparently overwrite the existing Android ROM that comes preloaded on each smartphone.

Microsoft provided the following statement to TechCrunch with regards to its special program:

As part of the Windows Insider Program, Microsoft will partner with Xiaomi to offer Windows 10 free downloads to a select group of Xiaomi Mi4 users. Xiaomi Mi4 users will get the ability to flash their phones with the new Windows 10 OS and provide feedback to Xiaomi and Microsoft on their experience. This partnership will allow Xiaomi and Microsoft to get direct user feedback and continue to improve the experience for China. Microsoft is thrilled to see Xiaomi embracing Windows 10 and offering this great value to their customers. We’re excited to see the feedback we receive from this audience. 

Xiaomi is a leading phone manufacturer in China undergoing significant global expansion. We are excited to partner with them in China and jointly gather feedback from Chinese users on their experience with Windows 10 to jointly collaborate on product and services development for the platform.

Availability will be announced in the months to come.

The Xiaomi enthusiast community is rather receptive to “pushing the envelope” so Microsoft will likely receive plenty of helpful feedback from those selected to participate in the program. However, one thing that wasn’t made clear in Microsoft’s statement is how customers will revert back to their previous Android ROM. Microsoft would probably hope that testers would be so enamored with Windows 10 that they would simply stay along for the journey, but we’d assume that Xiaomi and Microsoft will have a solution in place to easily restore the factory Android ROM.