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Developer Installs Windows 95 On An Apple Watch (theverge.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the anything's-possible dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Developer Nick Lee has successfully installed Windows 95 on his Apple Watch. It works, but it runs very slow. For example, it takes about an hour for the OS to boot up. In a blog post, Lee points out the Apple Watch features specs capable of running the old OS. To get Windows 95 running on the Apple Watch, Lee had to modify Apple's development software in "rather unorthodox ways" that allowed him to turn the OS into a Watch app, which also emulates an environment for the OS to run on, he tells The Verge. To deal with the fact that Apple Watch's screen is always turning itself off when not in use, he set up a motorized tube that constantly turns the Watch's crown, preventing it from falling asleep. In addition, Lee altered the Watch's software to let Windows 95 track a single fingertip, hence the constant swiping in his video.

98 comments

  1. Apple Watch not fast enough... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

    For example, it takes about an hour for the OS to boot up.

    Man, I thought my PC had bad boot times.

    1. Re:Apple Watch not fast enough... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Remember, it had to do some emulation to meet the windows 95 expectations. I think its awesome, who ever thought that it would be running on a watch, pretty incredible considering everything.

    2. Re:Apple Watch not fast enough... by dottrap · · Score: 5, Funny

      For example, it takes about an hour for the OS to boot up.

      Man, I thought my PC had bad boot times.

      That sounds about normal to me. Time to defrag the hard disk and do a fresh reinstall of Windows.

    3. Re: Apple Watch not fast enough... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's what she said.

    4. Re:Apple Watch not fast enough... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Rinse and repeat when mouse moved

    5. Re:Apple Watch not fast enough... by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 5, Funny

      An hour to boot up Windows? What's the boot time if you disable Norton?

    6. Re:Apple Watch not fast enough... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      Well, in fairness, he doesn't have systemd up and running on it yet to cope with the boot times.

    7. Re:Apple Watch not fast enough... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      To all readers. Don't even bother reading any further in the comments. It is full of assholes who while never accomplishing a fucking thing themselves have time and reason to deride someone for pursuing their hobby.

    8. Re:Apple Watch not fast enough... by marcansoft · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I have no idea what emulator he's using, but it gets the prize for slowest x86 emulator of the year. Windows 95 is *lightweight* compared to anything modern, even under an emulator.

      Let's see, quick test here. Samsung Chromebook, which is a dual-core Cortex-A15 (ARMv7) at 1.7GHz. Let's set cpufreq cap to 500MHz (Apple Watch is 520MHz). Install Win95 on a PC under QEMU, copy it over to the Chromebook, compile QEMU (for some reason it's not in the Arch Linux ARM repo...), and boot it up.

      Boot time, from qemu launch to desktop and no "hourglass" cursor? 90 seconds. Emulating a PC on a 500MHz ARMv7.

      Okay, so the Apple watch probably uses a lighter weight core than the Cortex-A15 on the Chromebook, but still, that doesn't anywhere near account for this kind of discrepancy. Oh, and QEMU is actually emulating a full 64-bit CPU (which of course Win95 doesn't need).

    9. Re:Apple Watch not fast enough... by inode_buddha · · Score: 0

      Maybe he should put systemd on it. He can use emacs for a fully-featured desktop.

      --
      C|N>K
    10. Re: Apple Watch not fast enough... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whered you get Win95 64-bit edition?

    11. Re: Apple Watch not fast enough... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He said improve boot times, not crash the system permanently

    12. Re: Apple Watch not fast enough... by marcansoft · · Score: 2

      Same as Win95 32-bit edition. 64-bit CPUs can run 32-bit code just fine. What I mean is that QEMU is emulating 64-bit capability, which presumably adds at least a bit of overhead compared to building it in 32-bit mode only (and this is on a 32-bit host).

    13. Re:Apple Watch not fast enough... by Megane · · Score: 1

      I think it's okay as long as it finishes booting before it needs to be recharged.

      --
      #naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
    14. Re:Apple Watch not fast enough... by flyingfsck · · Score: 1

      Reminds me of the time I did a fast Fourier transform on a HP calculator. It really redefined the meaning of fast.

      --
      Excuse me, but please get off my Pennisetum Clandestinum, eh!
    15. Re:Apple Watch not fast enough... by tyme · · Score: 1

      I wish I had mod points today: +Informative

      --
      just a ghost in the machine.
    16. Re: Apple Watch not fast enough... by jhoger · · Score: 1

      Yeah taking that long to boot seems more like a broken hardware emulation. Like some driver misses dealing with an event and interferes with bootup.

  2. So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    Who gives a shit?

    1. Re:So what? by dejitaru · · Score: 2

      Lots of people, you know, that likes to hack stuff and try to defy normality... But it's k, you stay in your cozy little world

    2. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The two people that bought the damned watch.

    3. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      its just a pc emulator port to c compiler on a common cpu platform. you could do the same on android gear in a few hours.

    4. Re:So what? by sexconker · · Score: 1

      Tons of people bought this watch.
      I have never seen one in the wild, however.

    5. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do it and you too could be in an article that may or may not be here some day.

    6. Re: So what? by jovius · · Score: 3, Funny

      Tons of people would still only be what, a couple of dozen people? Supposing that most of them are well fed westerners.

    7. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well yes, if they were starving then we would question their sense of priorities

    8. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "You won't believe what this guy did with an Apple Watch! !!!111"
      If you want to reach the millennials, you gotta know the lingo.

    9. Re: So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is that so? Let's see it then. No? Well, someone else actually has done it on Apple watch instead of just spouting off about it. That's why it's interesting.

    10. Re:So what? by orledrat · · Score: 1

      Reminds me of the time I did a fast Fourier transform on a HP calculator. It really redefined the meaning of fast.

      Lots of people, you know, that likes to hack stuff and try to defy normality... but it's k, you stay in your cozy little world

      I hate to be pedantic, but actually it's not k. It's [k - 1]. But that's okay as long as one precaches the twiddle factors. #FastFourierTilTheDay

    11. Re:So what? by orledrat · · Score: 1

      Reminds me of the time I did a fast Fourier transform on a HP calculator. It really redefined the meaning of fast.

      Lots of people, you know, that likes to hack stuff and try to defy normality... But it's k, you stay in your cozy little world

      I hate to say this, but actually it's not k.

      It's [k - 1]. But that's okay, just set the right radix and cache the twiddle factors in advance. #FastFourierTilTheDay

    12. Re:So what? by orledrat · · Score: 1

      Reminds me of the time I did a fast Fourier transform on a HP calculator. It really redefined the meaning of fast.

      Lots of people, you know, that likes to hack stuff and try to defy normality... But it's k, you stay in your cozy little world

      I hate to say this, but actually it's not k.

      It's [k - 1]. But that's okay, just set the right radix and cache the twiddle factors in advance. #FastFourierTilTheDay

  3. Why the fuck would anyone do this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    There is no use for this. Nobody has a reason to install Windows 95 on anything now. Idiots.

    1. Re:Why the fuck would anyone do this? by ChunderDownunder · · Score: 2

      I guess you missed the bit where he answered the question "What are you, nuts?"

      He has previously emulated 68k Mac OS and now turns his attention to a 486 PC.

      I would suggest another platform of the period, Risc OS. I'm not sure if the SoC used in the watch supports ARM's virtualization extensions but since there's no arch emulation it should still run at lightning speed compared to an Archimedes of the early 90s.

  4. great, buy why? by chromaexcursion · · Score: -1, Troll

    so he could
    who cares

    1. Re:great, buy why? by dejitaru · · Score: 2

      Everyone needs a hobby

  5. Unix on a gameboy by inode_buddha · · Score: 5, Informative

    Anyone else remember this guy? Ancient UNIX on a nintendo gameboy.

    --
    C|N>K
    1. Re: Unix on a gameboy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why is this not yet running in HTML5 and Javascript in Chrome with my quad-core Android pocket computer?

    2. Re:Unix on a gameboy by seogeeker · · Score: 1

      Way cooler than anything Apple!

  6. Actually by wickerprints · · Score: -1, Troll

    Only an hour to boot up? That's pretty fast for Win95, even after excluding all the times I can count when that shitty OS wouldn't even boot at all.

    1. Re:Actually by Brett+Buck · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Exactly! An hour is a lot better than eternity, which is how my Win95 machine worked, frequently.

  7. Ask Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    How do I felch my own cum?

    1. Re:Ask Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Install Win95 on an Apple Watch, that's how.

  8. Not slow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It works, but it runs very slow. For example, it takes about an hour for the OS to boot up

    That sounds about normal speed to me.

  9. awesome by slazzy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Despite hating both windows 95 and the apple watch. This is some awesome hackery.

    --
    Website Just Down For Me? Find out
    1. Re:awesome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      This is some awesome hackery.

      Not really. With that much processing power and RAM, Win95 should fly.
      If it takes an hour to boot, he must be running it in an emulator inside Javascript or something.
      Just checked: a single emulator (Bochs). That doesn't really explain why it boots so slow. Maybe one of the drivers waits for something. He should try a stripped Win95.

    2. Re: awesome by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He should try openbsd. Can you imagine a command line on that little as screen? God help me.

  10. Big deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    I can lick my shoulder.

    1. Re: Big deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

      I can lick my shit

    2. Re: Big deal by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can lick my tongue

  11. The watch wants to turn off by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Lee also had to deal with the fact that the Apple Watch's screen really wants to turn off when it isn't in use. To deal with that, he set up a motorized tube that constantly turns the Watch's crown, preventing it from falling asleep.

    It's worth watching. Props to this guy for some cool software hacking skills. But his motorized tube reminds me of ITAPPMONROBOT.

    1. Re:The watch wants to turn off by PPH · · Score: 5, Funny

      I would have thought that the continuous stream of "Update to Windows 10" nag popups would keep the display alive.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  12. Just one question... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why?

    1. Re:Just one question... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      site hits from millenials that are like "ha wow remember window's 95! retweet if your a 90's kid only 90s kid rember this"

  13. What he really did by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Run Bochs on his iWatch.

  14. Because... by dejitaru · · Score: 1

    Why not?

  15. Well clearly, somebody... by mark-t · · Score: 1

    ... had far too much time on their hands.

    Pun(s) intended.

    --
    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
  16. Good use by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Finally, something useful to do with an Apple watch

  17. Shut Slashdot Down Already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    judging from the comments the core audience is long gone and the readers are just strays from Reddit

    There was a day when doing something purely for enjoyment, the sake of doing it and just seeing if it could be done were lauded

    On today's Slashdot such things are derided and despised

    1. Re: Shut Slashdot Down Already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This has been increasingly true for the last few years. I now often find myself thinking I should just forget about the site, only the name is left of what it was, but I'm still coming here, out of long term habit. But less and less.

    2. Re:Shut Slashdot Down Already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's more and more noise due to most everyone used to post useless comments about everything everywhere, but the news story really amounts to "guy runs software on a computer".
      There is even an OS, networking and an expectation to add software to it, and developer support. Otherwise yes the bit of fun is spoiled.

    3. Re:Shut Slashdot Down Already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      so leave already. nobody wants to read your whining.

    4. Re: Shut Slashdot Down Already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think the folks from the old wind up days of slashdot are still here, just can't be bothered to post anymore.

    5. Re: Shut Slashdot Down Already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am so lost by all of the people asking why. Because I can and it's awesome. Besides isn't it tradition to run win95 and Doom on every new computing platform? Those were the first 2 things I did after I got my first smart phone.

  18. who cares? by chromaexcursion · · Score: -1, Troll

    nice tech demo.
    who cares
    boring

  19. Boring. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1

    This is stupid.

  20. He installed Mac OS also by kakaburra · · Score: 1

    It looks like he installed Mac OS also. https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  21. Just when I thought.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ....the apple watch couldn't be a bigger overpriced piece of shit - someone proves me wrong!

  22. He would get it realtime.. by Z80a · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If he given the work to actually write a JIT x86 to ARM translator, but the project is mostly a "i compiled Qemu to X and became news" so, not expecting that anytime soon.

    1. Re: He would get it realtime.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can't JIT on iOS - there are protections in kernel against making unsigned user pages executable (only Safari and out-of-process SafariViewController get an exception). But maybe they don't teach that in troll school.

    2. Re: He would get it realtime.. by Z80a · · Score: 1

      Getting around that would be something more newsworthy.

  23. Finally a reason for the iwatch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is actually the funnest thing I've seen about the iwatch. For his next trick he should install excel 97 and get the flight sim Easter egg up and running :)

  24. "Start me up..." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wasn't Windows 95 the OS for which Microsoft licensed the use of "Start Me Up" in ads? An hour just to boot up Windows 95 on the Apple Watch brings a new level of meaning to the part of the song the Microsoft ads omitted ("... you make a grown man cry ...").

  25. Not nerdy enough by Tablizer · · Score: 1

    Put a Commadore-64 emulator on it

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  26. Whooppee do by DrXym · · Score: 0

    So basically he bypassed some security and fired up an x86 emulator.

  27. Masturbation by skam240 · · Score: 0

    And I masturbated tonight. Where's the news?

    I guess I can see how making an obsolete OS run on a modern device as something that would be fulfilling but I fail to see how that would be important news to anyone.

    --
    I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
    1. Re:Masturbation by serviscope_minor · · Score: 3, Insightful

      important news to anyone.

      I love this. If we get important news, we get a bunch of whiners complaining it's not nerdy enough. Now we have undeniably something which is news for only the mose dyed in the wool nerds and well, you know the rest.

      So yes, this is slashdot for heaven's sake. This is precisely the sort of story which should be here (along with others).

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    2. Re:Masturbation by inode_buddha · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but you didn't jack it while wearing an iWatch running Win95. Sometimes people do shit just to see if it can be done. Like cramming a full-blown system into a tiny device.

      --
      C|N>K
    3. Re:Masturbation by glenebob · · Score: 2

      Sometimes people do shit just to see if it can be done. Like cramming a full-blown system into a tiny device.

      Cramming a "full-blown" system into an Apple Watch would be pretty cool. However, Windows 95 was never a "full-blown" system. It was a system that "fully blowed"; the difference is important. If someone could find a way to delete that piece of shit from the Universe, that would be time well spent.

    4. Re:Masturbation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      *slow clap*

    5. Re:Masturbation by inode_buddha · · Score: 1

      LOL "fully blowed" thanks! :D w95/98 is the entire reason I switched to linux way back then, and I'm still on it.

      --
      C|N>K
    6. Re:Masturbation by skam240 · · Score: 1

      Yes, but my point is that it's an accomplishment without any real effect. As I said before, it was probably a very fulfilling accomplishment doing that but at the end of the day it has no broad implications for anyone. My Thai cooking has really been fucking spot on lately but I don't think that's news worthy either.

      --
      I ignore Anonymous Coward posts. If you want to discuss something, that's awesome. Log in.
  28. ZOMG TURARAZIM!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    He must be a TURRARRAZIST! Help! (Shoots himself in the head with a flamethrower FUR OBAMA!)

  29. Hype-Trek: Generations by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I can't be the only one who thinks that it's funny that he managed to run the most over hyped desktop OS of its time on the most over hyped wearable gadget of its time.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re:Hype-Trek: Generations by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Win95 was a good OS. Worked fine for many of us. Perhaps not for the elite geeks who need to compile kernel every morning before brushing their teeth.

    2. Re:Hype-Trek: Generations by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Awww... butthurt fanboy is butthurt! That "over hyped" OS was installed on more PCs than all the Linux distros released since 1995. Now go in your corner and cry some more.

    3. Re: Hype-Trek: Generations by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To be fair, the hardware was lacking when win95 rolled out. I had to keep a dos partition to run games in due to how much ram win95 used and the fact that win95's dos mode sucked. By 96 or 97 win95 started being more than just eye candy.

  30. Wolfenstein 3D on a watch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So if it'll run Win95, it should run DOS then.

    1. Re: Wolfenstein 3D on a watch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And Doom!

  31. Emulator... There has been better Apple hacks by tomxor · · Score: 1

    As much as i love messing around with emulators. It's much harder and more interesting when someone gets another OS working on the bare metal, obviously not gona happen with windows. I remember when there was a tiny linux port for my 3rd gen ipod, could play Doom2 on it and type in the cli with the wheel onion network style :P it was awesome... it also added a new feature which keeps your pocket uncomfortably warm.

  32. NetBSD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We already knew it would run NetBSD!

    http://m.slashdot.org/story/59884

  33. window 95 is future by greenland · · Score: 0

    http://greenlandma.com/

    1. Re: window 95 is future by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Blatant spam, nice try.

  34. That's crazy. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's like saying, "Guy takes Stalin and installs Mussolini."

  35. Windows 10 by edxwelch · · Score: 1

    I wonder how long before the reminder pop-ups appear to upgrade to Windows 10.

  36. Finally ... by janoc · · Score: 1

    Someone has made Apple Watch do something actually useful!

  37. That's cool! by ilsaloving · · Score: 1

    I've always wanted a watch that demands I upgrade it to Windows 10 every time I look at it.

  38. Urgh, " the verge" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Feminest rag.

  39. This is another proof by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That two wrongs don't make a right.

  40. Full Blown?? by CmdrTamale · · Score: 1

    Win95 was a DOS extender, just better disguised than Win3.1 and Win3.11
    --
    The great thing about multitasking is that several things can go wrong at once.