Boot an old operating system
An emulator that runs a whole operating system in a browser sounds like it should not work, and for a long time it did not. Then x86 emulators were compiled to WebAssembly, and now a 1995 desktop boots in about the time it takes a modern web app to load its fonts.
What you get is real, not a mock-up. The Start menu opens, Solitaire deals, Notepad saves to a virtual disk that lives in your browser's storage, and a bad driver still hangs the machine. Nothing you do inside the emulator touches your own computer, which makes these the safest possible way to poke at software nobody should install any more.
Expect the first boot to be slow — the disk image is a real disk image and has to download. Once it has, it is cached. If a machine locks up, reload the page: you are rebooting, exactly as you would have then.
The list
v86 by copy.shcopy.sh
The x86 emulator that made all of this practical. Pick a profile from the list — Windows 95, Windows 98, FreeDOS, several Linux builds, ReactOS — and it boots in the page. Networking and disk images both work.
Windows 98 in a browser98.js.org
A one-click Windows 98 machine built on v86, pre-loaded so you land on the desktop instead of a configuration screen. Solitaire, Paint and Minesweeper are all installed.
PCjs Machinespcjs.org
Hardware-accurate emulation of the original IBM PC, PC AT, and early compatibles, with period DOS, Windows 1.0 through 3.1 and the actual BIOS. The most historically careful project of the lot.
EmuOSemupedia.net
A Windows 95-styled desktop shell that boots straight into a library of era games and applications. Less a faithful emulator than a very convincing recreation, and much faster to start.
Windows 93windows93.net
Not a real operating system — an art project shaped like one, full of jokes, fake error dialogs and small games. Worth ten minutes for the details alone.
WinWorldwinworldpc.com
The archive the disk images come from: operating systems, office suites and utilities from the 1980s and 90s, catalogued by version with original documentation and box art.
OldVersion.comoldversion.com
Every prior release of software that still exists today — ICQ, Winamp, early Firefox, AIM. Useful when you want the version you actually used, not the current one.
Other folders