You can now run WSL on Windows 95, in case you're crazy, too

The Windows Subsystem for Linux is an invaluable tool, but anyone wanting to run it on a Windows 9x system would find themselves out of luck until now. A self-described computer tinkerer and hacker calling herself Hailey presented what she called "one of my greatest hacks of all time" in a Mastodon post on Wednesday: The …

[QET]

This is so stupid and so goddamn crazy.

Hell, it's batshit insanity incarnate, which no sane individual would ever attempt.

And yet, I love it...

[Anonymous Coward]

Crazy is relative.

Like needing Linux functionality and running Windows 11. Or just running Windows 11.

[Jou (Mxyzptlk)]

> Or just running Windows 11.

TIFIFY

[David 132]

And I'll point out that it's a Windows that doesn't need second-mortgage-spending levels of RAM. Perhaps an unexpected side-effect of the great AI scam is that us meatbags will all go back to using Windows 95, 3.x, and of course the One True Version, 2000?

[MyffyW]

Windows 2000 was an NT version (NT5), and though I have fond memories of it they are at risk of being sullied by any comparison to 9x

Personally, and I took a while to get there, I think Windows XP eventually became "the one true" Windows, partly based on it's longevity, but also because of all the NT heavy lifting done by NT 3.x, 4 and 2000

[milliemoo83]

One could argue that Server 2003 is "the one true" Windows - XP without the Mickey Mouse interface by default. Yes you can turn it off in XP, but it's more effort. Plus NT5.0 doesn't have to deal with activation, unlike NT5.1 and beyond. Which is why I also agree that 2000 is peak Windows.

[QET]

Windows 11's existence can best be described as brute force & ignorance incarnate.

Ignorance in what the users of the operating system wanted and/or needed, versus what the powers there be at Microsoft decreed.

And brute force in how it's being forced through despite user-base pushback and negative feedback.

[Pascal Monett]

True digital art.

I wish Hailey all the best.

[MyffyW]

Hailey - if you're reading this - are you ok, Hun?

Always here to talk

[BartyFartsLast]

It's a plan,

So crazy that it might work

[M. Poolman]

Re: It's a plan,

It's a one in a million chance

[xc8]

yea weird project, I may try this under SunPC (4x86 SBUS card) on SPARCstation LX (Solaris 2.5.1)

[bazza]

Oooo yes please, and report back!

[wolfetone]

We put WSL in Windows 95 and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because it is fun.

[elsergiovolador]

Best

Best thing I read today.

[katrinab]

"The question of why one would want to do this came to mind quite quickly"

Because you can is a perfectly good answer ...

[Ken Hagan]

I think in this case it is the only reasonable answer, since you can make Linux the bare metal OS and run Win9x in a VM. More fully featured. More stable. But a much less satisfying hack.

[Anonymous Coward]

Pretty good career move in 2026 too.

She has a real feather in her cap. Her competitors only have a school name and resume, which will quickly be summarized by the AI tasked with reducing the 999 other human applicants to datapoints.

[jpennycook]

"Not only does that mean security issues may result"

It's DOS, there is no security!

[JoeCool]

Re: "Not only does that mean security issues may result"

It's Microsoft, there is no security!

[Jou (Mxyzptlk)]

Can it run Linux?

Yes, it can. After the "Can it run Doom" series on even most weird devices, this *SL aka <anything>SubsystemLinux is the next real challenge.

[Cruachan]

Re: Can it run Linux?

Now someone is going to start a challenge of can it run Doom under WSL under (insert OS or hardware device)?

[Frank Bitterlich]

Re: Can it run Linux?

I was about to ask "Can it run Wine?", but then I remembered the "no GUI" part... what a pity.

[ExampleOne]

So she revived the coLinux approach and used it on Windows 9x?

Still an impressive feat.

[An_Old_Dog]

Alternatives

There are freeware packages which give you various Unix/Linux shells which run under DOS, and there is Diomidis Spinellis' "Outwit95" which gives command-line programs access to the Windows clipboard.

[Bebu sa Ware]

UML

When I read this I immediately thought of user mode linux which I fiddled with years ago and thought was one of the cleverest hacks … potentially ever. I still have Jeff Dike's book somewhere.

Checking https://codeberg.org/hails/wsl9x I see that it too leverages UML but full marks to hails (Hailey) for getting a UML kernel to work with the MSDOS Gui wrapper, Win9x.I rather imagine really much harder.

[FIA]

Re: UML

Yeah, I just came here to post similar....

According to the WSL9x readme, the system is made up of three components: a Linux kernel patched to call Windows 9x APIs instead of POSIX ones, a VxD (virtual device) driver, and a WSL client itself.

The bit missing from that sentence is it uses user mode Linux, hence why it would even be calling POSIX APIs.

[K. Adams]

But will it run...

... under Wine?

Jus' lemme nab me coat...

[anonymous boring coward]

There must be an X server available for Windows 95, surely?

[Jou (Mxyzptlk)]

There is. I used it. But don't ask where I lost it :D.

[LionelB]

Well there certainly were a few; I recall Exceed (not sure if that still exists), or you could run X over Cygwin (which does still exist).

[bazza]

ReflectionX was another, and was pretty good

[Denarius]

nice hack but been done before

David Korn when at AT&T put out a unix subsystem for WinXP that also ran a bit diminished on Win98. Ran OK on Win7. Not tried it on Win10 but will look for the last release install package in my archives when trenching, fencing, sheep marking and sale done. Have a look on last year of ksh93 in USENET if Google kept mailing list. Server shut down years ago but code might still be archived somewhere.

[FIA]

Re: nice hack but been done before

There was also CoLinux too.

[Anonymous Coward]

Breaking news

Slopya Nedella announces Copilot to be integrated into W95 and NT4

Just in case anyone tries to run any Win environment without it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Soon we will have WSL running within W11 running within systemd and the circle will be complete.

[BPontius]

At a loss

Struggling to find a reason to run Windows 95!!

[Denarius]

Re: At a loss

cheap reliable insecure small file server in M$ only totally isolated network. To be used by those unable to setup Wine without a whine. My coats the one with the Win95 reference in left pocket

[Zombine]

Akt headline: Linux ends support for 486, life finds a way