Finally: Windows 95 app released for macOS, Linux and Windows 10
As you’re reading this, you’re running some kind of operating system. Maybe it’s Android or iOS on your phone, or perhaps you’re running Windows 10 on your laptop or PC. Whatever your setup, I’m willing to bet you’re not reading this on Netscape Navigator on Windows 95.
If you miss those simpler days, the Slack developer Felix Rieseberg has an answer for you. He’s rebuilt Windows 95 as an app that you can run in a window on your Mac, or any PC using Windows or Linux.
Related: Windows 10 S vs Chrome OS
The app is sandboxed with no network or file access for security reasons because for some reason Microsoft has been quite lax at patching an operating system that’s used by 0.00% of the world’s population.
Coming in at a teeny-tiny 129MB in size, Windows 95 for Windows 10/macOS/Linux is almost fully functional. You can sweep mines on Minesweeper, doodle filth in MS Paint or take notes in Wordpad. What you won’t be doing is using Internet Explorer, which fails to load pages due to network access being blocked.
But then for most nostalgia hunters, the chances are that you weren’t loading many web pages back in 1995 anyway. In fact, you may quickly wonder what you were doing as the limitations begin to take hold.
Whatever it was though, current hardware can easily handle it – even when running everything Windows 95 has to offer, you’ll find it maxing out at 200MB of RAM. That’s probably less than half of what your smartwatch has onboard.
Read more: Best laptops
If you want to take a stroll down Memory Lane for yourself, you can download Windows 95 – currently at version 1.1 with added Floppy Disk support – from Github. Let us know you encounter the dreaded Blue Screen Of Death on your travels.
Will you be downloading Windows 95 for old times’ sake? Let us know on Twitter @TrustedReviews.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
