That Windows 95 startup sound always gives me nostalgia, but how about taking it for a whirl without setting anything up whatsoever?
Andrea Faulds, a 19-year-old developer in Scotland, managed to get Windows 95 to function fully in the browser without any plugins.
It’s a truly incredible sight to behold: seeing the 20-year-old operating system fully functioning in pure JavaScript is amazing — you can play Freecell, mess around in DOS or just enjoy the nostalgia.
The project uses emscripten, an emulator that compiles C++ code to JavaScript at runtime so you can enjoy the full retro experience without needing to install a plugin or set up Windows 95 from scratch.
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Just the thought of how many layers of complexity are here is dizzying: an operating system being compiled to JavaScript, delivered over the internet and successfully interpreted by a browser.
The emulator isn’t perfect (Internet Explorer crashes inside the emulator, which is to be expected) but it’s an impressive demo of how far we’ve come and a cool trip down memory lane.
TNW originally published this piece in January of 2016. We sometimes update and/or re-publish articles from our archives that are fun, informative, or highly-relevant… like this one.
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