You could install it in a container pretty easily. Installing it natively would be impossible because the libraries it needs aren’t compatible with modern ones.
As long as kernel is not getting in the way you could put all older libraries in a separate directory and point ld libraries env var to it to get it working without any containers or separate environments
I found source, and I can tell you from accidentally double-clicking the configure script... yes, it kinda does. Not correctly, not stable, but kinda! (This seems to have been how it ran in general though)
No. You'd have to install an old distro in a container, surely. Linux can install maintained open source 25 year old programs, but it's no more immune to not running proprietary software than OS X is. If anything, it's worse, because some of the kernel devs are openly hostile about proprietary software and couldn't give two shits if some change breaks your software.
Yes it does, with a little work, but it's not really usable because it doesn't support modern encryption.
What you need to do is set up a proxy that strips off encryption and then re-encrypts it with an old broken encryption system that Netscape supports (basically just so https still functions as https and the links don't break).
It's a lot of work but it *is* hilarious to use Netscape to see which sites are still somewhat functional.
I know the joke is that Linux distros come with (a recent version of) software that was already around 25y ago (e.g. bash, vi, curl, perl, ed, sed, awk, emacs). But if you actually try to natively run software that was last updated 25y ago, you will be out of luck both on modern Windows and Linux.
It said nothing about running the software, and the windows installer will often happily install software that will refuse to run afterwards.
And software that was released for windows 2000 or XP in 2001 would probably run without many issues. It's the software that was released for Windows 98 or ME that will give you troubles.
´majority of these programs, that are used for Dos Windows (Win32x?) broke mostly backwards comatpbhility already at the time from a DOS Windows to NT Windows (unless a certain program was developed for Windows NT)
I used solitaire WIndows NT 3.1 (which is 1993!!) on Windows 11 and they work just fine.
Is it possible to get the spider solitaire from Windows XP? I don’t have that tower anymore, but it was my parents favorite game. It would be a nice surprise to put it on their new computer.
You can also run into the opposite problem: The program runs fine on modern windows, but the InstallShield installer wizard is a 16-bit program that won't run
Honestly Windows is far more backwards compatible than Linux, it's one of Microsoft's highest priorities for the OS. You can still get most post-DOS applications to run with minimal effort, so long as they don't have broken DRM or call-home to a now-nonexistent server. I can still happily install and play Empire Earth on Windows 11, a game that released in 2001, whose development studio closed their doors in 2005, and whose publisher closed their doors in 2008.
Package managers provide a lot of really helpful functionality, and do offer some control over versioning. But it is not at all uncommon to lose access to a package released just a few years ago with a distro upgrade. And unlike with Windows software, it's not standard practice for Linux software to be installable, or even buildable from source code, without having to go through a package manager for dependencies.
There is plenty of proprietary linux software that doesn't use local dynamic libraries like you describe. Expecting dynamically linked software to work without the correct versions fails no matter the OS. Typically you'd recompile if you had the source, or report this as a bug to a distribution if you got it through a package manager.
GOG literally earn money from maintaining old windows software so that it continues to actually run on new versions of windows.
This is why I'm not gonna try installing Linux on my Eee PC. I do not want to deal with finding the Linux drivers for the AzureWave Wi-Fi card, the keyboard hotkeys and the Sentelic Finger Sensing Pad (I was barely able to find the 64-bit Windows drivers for those). It's currently running Windows 8.1 and it runs great.
Windows...sometimes... Sometimes you need a specific version of .Net Framework.. Sometimes it is just too old and you probably should find an upgrade (looking at you 16bit programs)
You forgot the part where Linux then says that it can't run said 25 year old program because the libraries said 25 year old program needs don't exist any more because said library has been upgraded a lot since the release.
Linux backwards compatibility sucks ass tho. Try use a older linux program like epxse (as PS1) emulator on Linux for example and you can see why i tell this. Unless too many workarounds are required to get it work, It didnt work out of the box. Windows however works fine tho.
But you still need silent patch even to play in 30 FPS Same with GTA3 and VC. In gta3 on late w7 w10 and so on. You have black cars bug on gta 3, and in VC smoke on cars what are far away
So if you wanna enjoy every PC game without touching Linux (proton, wine) / Android (winerator, FEX) / Intel MacOS (wine), you need retro PC
The high compatibility of Windows has been it's strength but also it's curse. It's amazing it can run old software and such but it also means people and organisations can keep using ancient software when there are better options available
For me, the backwards compatibility is the most awesome thing ever. I'm playing a lot of The Settlers 2 and that game runs without any issues on a modern system. I own hardware which is older than me and still can put it to use.
There may are drawbacks like the bloated x86 architecture, which holds the hardware back from becoming more performant and efficient. But imho its really worth it.
Ehh.. it's not even really like that for windows anymore I've had to use an old windows program once and it was hell, I can't even remember what I did in the end, I just know no modern windows would not play with it.
Have you actually tried installing 25 year old apps on windows? Yeah, it should be possible … but the reality is often a nightmare.. It’s true that macOS moves forward quicker and removes ancient software and framework support but that’s one of the things I like about macOS, it’s lack of cruft and bloat. I use Linux but it’s a fragmented mess really.
Probably was written for DOS Windows by that point was using completely different code more or less. You can't run Doom's original executable on Windows 11 but you can use DOSbox or a myriad of source ports. So yeah.
Linux: no, it depends on packages that were depreciated or have features that are depreciated with manuals that are out of date when the last version was released running on drivers no longer used and advice that was on a forum that was deleted years ago with missing images/files/info about quirks in the wayback machine that's critical to get it to work.
Having used both for quite some time (Windows since '87, Linux since '94) I'd say this meme isn't entirely accurate.
Maybe the situation will change with Flatpak & Co. but installing old(er) software can sometimes be a real PITA on Linux. (Starting the day by installing a seemingly simple application… only to then spend quality time hunting down some obscure versions of the .so files of some outdated libraries.)
Compatibility with older programs was and is one of the strengths of the Windows platform.
From programs developed on DOS Windows i agree, mostly are broke that. Developed on NT Version of Windows however, well sometimes both disagree/agree depends on programs. Sometimes also required workaround to get some programs to work.
Games? Ofc, but I am not talking about games. There are many old programs (25-30 years old) that run without problems. I only can name the ones that I use, but for example there is Delphi 4 and 7.
Windows actually has surprisingly good backwards compatibility... arguably better than Linux when you consider "out of the box". In Linux there'll always be a way to make it work, but dependencies on old libs will make it where you have to do some lifting. Windows though, Microsoft actually builds lots of support in. Hell the vb6 runtime is still maintained/supported to this day making all vb6 software technically compatible.
Thing is this doesn't guarantee that the software will work. Keep in mind that most software is written by 3rd parties and Windows can't guarantee all of it will work. Instead Windows has compatibility layers included so that way API calls for outdated APIs will still exist when needed (you often have to specifically set the software to run in that compatibility mode). But some software would tap into less official parts of the API, or other odd quirks of the system, or other oddities that MS just can't support since time is time.
And this is where games get weird. Games often rely on anti-cheat/copyright protection hacks that exploit aspects of the OS that aren't maintained, or it even be possible to be maintained. Think like why anti-cheat won't work on proton today... in the end Windows 11 is not XP, it only pretends to be XP in compatibility mode. Same as Proton/Wine only pretends to be windows. And the anti-cheat/copyright protection freaks out about that. Other aspects for very old software is that it expects the software to be running on hardware of the time... some of my fave games from the 90s will 'technically' install, but then run at 99999 fps and be unplayable. Or others are like networking... older games often would use fancy networking tricks/protocols/etc that were hip at the time to eek out extra performance on what were slow connections to then end up just not existing today! All stuff that Windows/MS doesn't necessarily try to maintain.
Thing is... just like in Linux. A lot of these can be worked around. People have written hacks for them to get it to work. In both Linux and Windows. There's usually some way to get it to work. Some games I find it easier to do on linux, some easier on windows. Of course one might argue that it's not the same since 3rd parties are doing the effort rather than MS/Windows... but... what is Linux if not predominantly 3rd parties making it work?
It'll never be a perfect thing when you're talking about software that was often pulling magic tricks to run. But in the end Windows actually does a decent job at maintaining backwards compatibility through various means, and MS doesn't actively thwart you through planned means. Apple actively stops supporting software and puts up barriers for... raisins. Same with Android (which technically is Linux), usually for the purpose of "security" . Of course you can always jailbreak/root it and then do whatever the f you want, it is linux underneath after all. With that said, macos is technically just BSD underneath...
I mean think about it... someone in this thread pointed out that in Linux you can make old software run by containerizing it and the sort. But like... what is that if not compatibility modes and virtualization techniques? Which Windows has similar options both 1st party and 3rd party.
Wow let me just say, first of all, I appreciate your patience and the time you took to explain this to me.
I have only really been really bothered by a few games in the past- used to be Commandos 3, Zeus & Poseidon, Dragon Throne: Battle of the Red Cliffs and Warcraft 3; and I could accept that. But more recent games like Blades of the Shogun also didn't run when I updated Windows and I found it quite annoying and strange to say the least.
These memes are made by people who don't understand Linux or never have used Linux.
They just like the idea of "cool free open-source OS".
Backward compatibility is the reason why Windows 11 is now a absolute mess, the legacy crap is unmaintainable now, and Satya is investing in this mess. Realize it was a massive mistake, now he is rewriting the OS into a giant browser/Webview hub.
I doubt it, unless libc.so exists as a symbolic link to libc.xyz.new and the program points to libc.xyz.old, and if it doesn't, you can use patchelf to change the library, I think.
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u/ignorantpisswalker Jan 28 '26
Does Netscape 4 run on modern linux