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Running Old Windows Inside GNU/Linux (WSL9x)
Darrell Vermilion|your scientists were so preoccupied
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You can now run GNU/Linux on your ancient backdoored Windows 95 desktop with a new tool — very old backdoored Windows PCs, back to defective chip maker Intel 486, can cooperatively run very modern Linux kernels with WSL9x
WSL9x enables users to run the most modern Linux kernels in Microsoft OSes as old as backdoored Windows 95.
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hails/wsl9x: Windows 9x subsystem for Linux
WSL9x runs a modern Linux kernel (6.19 at time of writing) cooperatively inside the Windows 9x kernel, enabling users to take advantage of the full suite of capabilities of both operating systems at the same time, including paging, memory protection, and pre-emptive scheduling. Run all your favourite applications side by side - no rebooting required!
Proudly written without AI.
It's FOSS:
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Microsoft Has WSL, But This Developer Built One for backdoored Windows 95
WSL9x lets you run a modern GNU/Linux kernel 6.19 inside backdoored Windows 9x without needing virtualization.
More:
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Windows 9x Subsystem for Linux
WSL9x by Hailey Somerville runs a modern Linux kernel (6.19 at time of writing) cooperatively inside the Windows 9x kernel, enabling users to take advantage of the full suite of capabilities of both operating systems at the same time, including paging, memory protection, and preemptive scheduling.
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You can now run modern Linux kernels inside Windows 95 with this fan-made project
Windows 95 is a legendary operating system, but you know what it was missing? Windows Subsystem for Linux. Clearly, back in the days when Microsoft was figuring out how the hell you connect a computer to the internet, it should have been working on a way to run a modern-day Linux distro right there within the OS. You know, simple things like that.
Hackaday:
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WSL9x: Add A Linux Subsystem To Your Windows 9x
Considering that Windows NT has the concept of so-called ‘subsystems’ whereby you can run different systems side-by-side, starting with the POSIX subsystem and later the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), it was probably only a matter of time before someone figured that doing this with Windows 9x was also completely reasonable. Ergo we now got [Hailey Somerville]’s Linux Subsystem for Windows.
To make running Linux inside Windows 9x work, it was necessary to heavily patch a Linux kernel, as normally there are no provisions for such a subsystems in Windows 9x’s kernel unlike the NT kernel. Correspondingly, the Linux kernel is based on user-mode Linux and hacked to call Windows 9x kernel APIs instead of the POSIX ones.
More here:
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Windows 9x Subsystem for Linux Brings Your Linux Software to Microsoft's Peak-'90s Operating Systems
Mononymous developer Hailey has taken Microsoft's concept of the Windows Subsystem for Linux to a new level — by writing a version for running Linux applications within the classic 32-bit Windows 95 or Windows 98 operating systems: the Windows 9x Subsystem for Linux.
"With Windows 9x Subsystem for Linux you can run all your favorite Windows and Linux apps side-by-side with a modern Linux kernel running cooperatively with the Windows kernel in ring 0," Hailey explains of the project. "And unlike modern WSL, no hardware virtualization is used so even your 486 can run it! Please enjoy, I think this might be one of my greatest hacks of all time."
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You can now run Linux on your ancient Windows 95 desktop with a new tool — very old Windows PCs, back to Intel 486, can cooperatively run very modern Linux kernels with WSL9x
A computer tinkerer and hacker has posted a tool called WSL9x on Codeberg and taken to social media to boast that it might be “one of my greatest hacks of all time.” Hailey shared a summary of WSL9x on Mastodon, referring to it by its longer and more meaningful name, the Windows 9x Subsystem for Linux. Oftentimes, folks like to run old OSes inside their modern ones, but WSL9x turns that on its head, as it can run the most modern Linux kernels within some of the earliest versions of Windows. It works on systems sporting Windows 95 or newer, and even machines with 486 CPUs.
Microsoft boosters:
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Linux and Windows 95 running side by side? This dev made it happen.
Every year enthusiasts declare that it's the "year of Linux," but what if instead of that milestone happening in 2026, it retroactively happened in 1995. Open source developer "Hailey" did not invent a time machine, but they did create Windows 9x Subsystem for Linux (WSL9X) that allows you to run Windows and Linux apps side-by-side on Windows 95 and other classic versions of Windows.
Late coverage:
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New Hack Lets 30-Year-Old Windows PCs Run Modern Linux
The project, known as WSL9x, introduces a compatibility layer that enables legacy Windows 9x systems to host a modern Linux kernel by modifying the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). Instead of replacing the old Operating System (OS), it works alongside it, just like WSL does, effectively bridging a gap between decades-old hardware and current software capabilities.
What makes it possible is a clever workaround that pushes Windows to its limits.
Late coverage in Valnet:
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Someone figured out how to run Windows 9x inside Linux and it's surprisingly useful
Windows and Linux might seem like oil and water at first, and a fusion might seem like an unholy combination. In a way, that still holds true — at least in terms of the philosophy behind the two extremely popular operating systems.
A couple more from Valnet: