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> This allows programs should have failed epically to run flawlessly on everything from Windows 95 to Windows 7. The "upgrade through every version of Windows"

> This allows programs should have failed epically to run flawlessly on everything from Windows 95 to Windows 7. The "upgrade through every version of Windows" videos show Reversi and MS-DOS Executive running on Windows 8. You do have to run 32-bit Windows, though, to get 16-bit compatibility.

ido 13y ago
You can still run honest-to-goodness PC DOS 1.0 .com files from 1981 designed to run on the original PC out of the box in 32 bit windows 8.
- antocv 13y ago
  You can run a.out files from 1992 on Linux too, so what.
  - dredmorbius 13y ago
    Without recompiling or hunting for old libs? I know there were a couple of pretty significant glibc upgrades, and IIRC the binary format changed at some point from something earlier to ELF. Hrm. "something earlier" seems to have been the a.out format, based on Eric Youngdale's 1995 Linux Journal article: The ELF Object File Format: Introduction http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/1059 http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/1059
    - vetinari 13y ago
      Yes, without recompiling. That's the point, a.out is a binary format and if you recompile with current toolchain, you will get ELF. You will need the original shared libraries and linker, though. They will run.
      - dredmorbius 13y ago
        Thanks.
  - vertex-four 13y ago
    While the kernel developers never break compat, userland developers are much happier to, which leads to all sorts of issues. Even if your a.out file is statically linked, it might depend on a service that's since been replaced.
    - pantalaimon 13y ago
      This is why when it comes to old (2000 era) Linux games, it's much easier to just run the Windows version in wine than to go through all the hoops to gather old libraries and get the sounds working.
      - vetinari 13y ago
        Old Linux games use OSS, which you may get to run. They may also require obsolete Xfree extensions for direct framebuffer access, which the modern hardware will not allow though. If you are extra unlucky, they may require direct console framebuffer access and unless you have also the old hardware with old drivers, you are going to get it on modern system.

ido 13y ago

You can still run honest-to-goodness PC DOS 1.0 .com files from 1981 designed to run on the original PC out of the box in 32 bit windows 8.

antocv 13y ago
You can run a.out files from 1992 on Linux too, so what.
- dredmorbius 13y ago
  Without recompiling or hunting for old libs? I know there were a couple of pretty significant glibc upgrades, and IIRC the binary format changed at some point from something earlier to ELF. Hrm. "something earlier" seems to have been the a.out format, based on Eric Youngdale's 1995 Linux Journal article: The ELF Object File Format: Introduction http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/1059 http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/1059
  - vetinari 13y ago
    Yes, without recompiling. That's the point, a.out is a binary format and if you recompile with current toolchain, you will get ELF. You will need the original shared libraries and linker, though. They will run.
    - dredmorbius 13y ago
      Thanks.
- vertex-four 13y ago
  While the kernel developers never break compat, userland developers are much happier to, which leads to all sorts of issues. Even if your a.out file is statically linked, it might depend on a service that's since been replaced.
  - pantalaimon 13y ago
    This is why when it comes to old (2000 era) Linux games, it's much easier to just run the Windows version in wine than to go through all the hoops to gather old libraries and get the sounds working.
    - vetinari 13y ago
      Old Linux games use OSS, which you may get to run. They may also require obsolete Xfree extensions for direct framebuffer access, which the modern hardware will not allow though. If you are extra unlucky, they may require direct console framebuffer access and unless you have also the old hardware with old drivers, you are going to get it on modern system.