Run Windows 95 as a JavaScript app on your computer (and play a bit of Doom while you

[harlan4096]

If you want to relive memories of the Windows 95 operating system, or want to know what it was all about, then you may want to point your browser's to a faithful JavaScript adaption of the operating system. Depending on who you ask, Windows 95 was either a major milestone release, or a bug-infested operating system that is better to be forgotten.

Created by Felix Rieseberg using Electron, JavaScript Windows 95 is available for Windows, macOS and Linux devices.



All you need to do is download the appropriate package and either install or run it on the system. Standalone zip packages are provided to skip the installation part, but these are a bit larger than the installer packages.

On Windows, users may get a SmartScreen warning, but this can be skipped easily to run Windows 95 on the system.

The entire operating system has been written in JavaScript. You get the Windows desktop on launch and a wallpaper that has not aged well. Takes just a few clicks to change it to something more appropriate.

The Start Menu and Explorer work as expected, and you can create, delete or edit files just like on the real operating system.

Several games have been added to the system, including Doom, which you can play with a click after opening the games folder in the environment. Games may take some time to startup, and you may want to adjust the screen resolution before playing them, as you may end up with a 320x200 window otherwise, which is not pleasant.

The developer recommends switching to a resolution of 640x480 and 256 colors to play the games in their full glory.

There are other apps to try out, including FrontPage (use windows95 as the username and password as the password), good old Minesweeper, or Paint. The startpage's settings button includes an option to mount a floppy disk, yes, that was still a thing back then, and to reset the machine state.

Closing Words

Windows 95 in JavaScript is an impressive project, there is no doubt about that. It is probably not something that you run each and every day, but to get a glimpse of days long gone, or to play a round of Doom or one of the other games, it is an excellent option.

Now You: which operating system did your first computer run?
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