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You can play with ancient versions of Windows right now in your web browser

Published May 11th, 2015 6:00PM EDT
Windows Browser

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Windows 10 has gotten technology journalists and bloggers incredibly excited about the future of Windows, but now it’s time to take a look at Windows’ past. The odds are fairly good that even if you’re old enough to remember using it first hand, you’ve probably forgotten all about Windows 1.01 at this point. Windows 3.0 is likely a distant memory as well, and despite the fact that it was such a huge update at the time, even Windows 95 may be long forgotten.

Now, however, you can relive the past right in your web browser.

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As noted in a recent post on gHacks, there are a bunch of sites out there that let you relive the past and play with historical versions of Windows for free. Of course, there’s no need to install them on your computer anymore, as you can run them virtually right in a browser tab.

PCJS has a nifty free Windows 1.01 emulator, as gHacks noted, and you can use the command line or even launch programs as you would have on a PC decades ago. Windows 3.0 can be run on web developer James Friend’s website, and Windows 95 is alive and well on Scottish programmer Andrea Faulds’s website.

For more details on these versions and for details on where you can run newer builds like Windows 98 and Windows XP, follow the link below in our source section.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.