How to use Windows 95 on modern Linux, macOS, or Windows PCs

On: January 07, 2021


Windows 95 turned 25 this past August. Its launch marked the definitive take-off of Microsoft as the world's 'software giant' and revolutionized the world of personal computers. A key piece in the evolution and subsequent development of consumer computing and for the Redmond firm the beginning of a monopoly in desktop operating systems that continues to this day.

Windows 95 was a great leap from MS-DOS and Windows 3.x for the premiere of a true graphical user interface and new components that have ended up reaching our days such as the start menu or the taskbar. In addition to the novelties in the graphic section, Windows 95 stood out for being a hybrid of 16 and 32 bits, including Plug & Play support, multitasking, and the possibility of using long file names.

It had five service packs throughout its lifetime (from 1995 to 2001) to improve support for the FAT-32 file system, the USB peripheral connection port, the UDMA data transfer bus, or the USB port. AGP graphics. It also included the default Internet Explorer web browser from versions 1.0 to 4.0.

Beyond technical advances, the success of the most profitable operating system in history was 'blamed' for a marketing campaign in which Microsoft invested a whopping $ 300 million at the time, including $ 14 million to pay for the copyright to the Rolling Stones for the use of their song 'Start Me Up' in a publicity campaign like the ones that are no longer done.

How to use Windows 95 on modern PCs

Windows 95 is today a historical piece and has been ported to a large number of devices, from an Apple Watch to an Xbox console, through smartphones or tablets with Android or iOS. It can also be run in a web browser.

Obviously, the PC is its natural element. Slack developer Felix Rieseberg released an app a couple of years ago that allowed you to relive the Windows 95 experience on modern computers running Linux, macOS, and today's Windows. Shortly after, it updated it to allow running classic games like Doom and has continued to support it with new versions.

The development is based on the Electron framework, an open-source framework that allows the development of graphical desktop applications using client-server components for web applications and with Chromium as an interface. It is used in many modern applications such as Skype, WhatsApp, Twitch, or Slack itself.

It is written entirely in JavaScript, so it does not work as well as it would if it were a native application, but it is enough to test it in a similar way to what we would get running a virtual machine running within the supported operating systems, Windows, Mac and Linux.

Download and install Windows 95 for PC

Rieseberg has recently updated the application to version 2.3.0. Its use can not be easier. Simply download one of the available versions and install:

The build has grown in size as classic games, applications, and enhancements have been added, and currently weighs in at about 300 Mbytes. Additionally, the user can install their own software since there is a lot of free space left in the virtual disk image.

The source code of this Windows 95 for PC is also available, an interesting development for those who at the time did not use the operating system and want to know it or relive that experience.

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