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Xbox and Windows NT 3.5 source code leaks online

theverge.com

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Re: Xbox and Windows NT 3.5 source code leaks online

#2

Post by lawl »

I'm starting to think leaking the code for an old console could be a pretty cost-effective way to get an emulator.

I'm pretty sure I've heard of companies using open source emulators for backwards compatibility with old consoles/selling 'classic games' before.

Re: Xbox and Windows NT 3.5 source code leaks online

#4

Post by MaxBarraclough »

BruceEel wrote: post #3

What if a Microsoft developer gets her/his hands on the leaked NT 3.5 code and secretly starts working on setting Windows 10 straight...

Little chance of that. They still haven't even fixed the start menu search.

I open up the start menu, type 'vlc', and get no matches. I close the menu, reopen it, and try again. This time, it finds VLC no problem.

They've had almost 5 years to fix this.

Re: Xbox and Windows NT 3.5 source code leaks online

#5

Post by thiagocesar »

lawl wrote: post #2

I'm starting to think leaking the code for an old console could be a pretty cost-effective way to get an emulator. I'm pretty sure I've heard of companies using open source emulators for backwards compatibility with old consoles/selling 'classic games' before.

Microsoft already has a pretty sophisticated Xbox emulator, deployed to both Xbox360 and XboxOne.

Re: Xbox and Windows NT 3.5 source code leaks online

#6

Post by BruceEel »

MaxBarraclough wrote: post #4
BruceEel wrote: post #3

What if a Microsoft developer gets her/his hands on the leaked NT 3.5 code and secretly starts working on setting Windows 10 straight...

Little chance of that. They still haven't even fixed the start menu search. I open up the start menu, type 'vlc', and get no matches. I close the menu, reopen it, and try again. This time, it finds VLC no problem. They've had almost 5 years to fix this.

sobering...

Re: Xbox and Windows NT 3.5 source code leaks online

#7

Post by cdolan »

lawl wrote: post #2

I'm starting to think leaking the code for an old console could be a pretty cost-effective way to get an emulator. I'm pretty sure I've heard of companies using open source emulators for backwards compatibility with old consoles/selling 'classic games' before.

You may be thinking of Nintendo. They packaged up a Super Mario ROM from the internet and sold it on their classic games store.

https://youtu.be/zR1uEwjx7VI

Re: Xbox and Windows NT 3.5 source code leaks online

#9

Post by mrfredward »

lawl wrote: post #2

I'm starting to think leaking the code for an old console could be a pretty cost-effective way to get an emulator. I'm pretty sure I've heard of companies using open source emulators for backwards compatibility with old consoles/selling 'classic games' before.

The 20KB stripped down Windows kernel that shipped on the XBox isn't hard to emulate...emulators such as CXBX do this for many functions by calling the respective windows function on the host. Low-level emulators (XQemu) take the opposite approach by emulating well understood hardware (hdd, cdrom, usb) and then running a binary dump of the xbox firmware (which contains the kernel, it's not on disk) directly.

To my understanding the hardest problem in XBox emulation is the GPU, and unfortunately this doesn't help with that.

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