Is there a link someone could share (other than the one to the post)?
Windows 11 will happily execute a binary compiled 30 years ago
21–30 of 424 posts
Re: Windows 11 will happily execute a binary compiled 30 years ago
#22I wish there was a backwards compatibility option to give applications a “virtual display” which runs in a window, for old programs which only know how to run fullscreen at 1024x768.
Working on https://github.com/evmar/retrowin32, I disassembled one old demo that wouldn't run on my native Windows machine -- turns out it was requesting 320x200 fullscreen resolution and aborting if it couldn't get it. (Not sure why the Windows machine wouldn't do it...)
Re: Windows 11 will happily execute a binary compiled 30 years ago
#23Its famously determined, but I feel that a DOS CLI app isnt much of a challenge since the DOS subsystem is essentially ossified. What would be the result if, say, you tried to run something DOS-y that was demanding or an early Win16 app? Say, Zortech C++ from 1986 with the Pharlap DOS extender or Minesweeper from windows 3.1. Would they work?
That’s not a DOS app, it’s a Win32 console app. DOS apps (16-bit or 32-bit) or Win16 apps would not run natively.
Win16 got dropped at some point, probably because keeping it didn't add up financially. I have little doubt they could have kept support for much older stuff.
Re: Windows 11 will happily execute a binary compiled 30 years ago
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s not a DOS app, it’s a Win32 console app. DOS apps (16-bit or 32-bit) or Win16 apps would not run natively.
Something that confuses me is that this states it's running a binary compiled 30years ago. How is this not 16bit? I'm aware of win32s, I used to run it but still it seems unlikely this is a win32 console app unless there's an incredibly unlikely set of circumstances behind this. Or perhaps it was simply recompiled after all despite what the Twitter post states?
In fact looking into this further the only thing windows 11 lacks is the ntvdm which allows some dos api calls. If your binary is straightforward and not tied to msdos which this is it's fine. So I think the idea that this is a 32bit windows console application is completely untrue. It's also intuitively untrue when you consider the age of the app being run here.
Re: Windows 11 will happily execute a binary compiled 30 years ago
#25Is it? Maybe insane in a bad way.
Right click on windows desktop had what now 3 different menus that might show depending on what you want to do. Oh. And let’s not talk about how much of what you see just covers the stuff up from 1998. Still rendering the old stuff only to have a slightly larger menu render right on top of it.
Re: Windows 11 will happily execute a binary compiled 30 years ago
#26See also https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2004/06/13/how-microsoft-lost... one of the developers of the hit game SimCity, who told me that there was a critical bug in his application: it used memory right after freeing it, a major no-no that happened to work OK on DOS but would not work under Windows where memory that is freed is likely to be snatched up by another running application right away. The testers on the Win…
This seems like an interesting vector for a virus.
Re: Windows 11 will happily execute a binary compiled 30 years ago
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
That’s not a DOS app, it’s a Win32 console app. DOS apps (16-bit or 32-bit) or Win16 apps would not run natively.
Something that confuses me is that this states it's running a binary compiled 30years ago. How is this not 16bit? I'm aware of win32s, I used to run it but still it seems unlikely this is a win32 console app unless there's an incredibly unlikely set of circumstances behind this. Or perhaps it was simply recompiled after all despite what the Twitter post states?
Windows NT 3.1 was released on July 27, 1993.
Re: Windows 11 will happily execute a binary compiled 30 years ago
#28I wish there was a backwards compatibility option to give applications a “virtual display” which runs in a window, for old programs which only know how to run fullscreen at 1024x768.
Wine does this, it's a lifesaver for older games like Diablo 2.
Re: Windows 11 will happily execute a binary compiled 30 years ago
#29Re: Windows 11 will happily execute a binary compiled 30 years ago
#30And that's why Microsoft will dominate corporate PC market for the foreseeable future.
Eh. More and more native software is being replaced by web versions (or versions that run inside a webview). I’d argue that is going to be the more important compatibility test in the coming years.