Windows 95 is back - as an app for your computer

Many of the first computers that were in private households in the 90s either had a DOS version or an early graphic user interface (such as Windows 3.11) on the hard drive or the graphically and functionally much more extensive Windows 95 Indulge in days of computer use and want to paint something in an old version of paint again, you're in luck. The Windows 95 operating system has been available as an app on Github for some time - usable without Boot Camp or Parallels Desktop. Felix Rieseberg's program is self-contained and can only fire the integrated, emulated programs. So you cannot install Age of Empires;)

TL; DR: Here is the link to download

Windows 95 as an app for PC, Mac and Linux machines

The Windows 95 operating system as an app for Windows PC, Apple Mac with macOS or Linux computers comes from the developer Felix Riesenberg and, according to the download page, is only 129 MB in size. Safari's download history shows me a size of 135,2 MB; unpacked on the hard drive me the program from Finder shown as 453,6 MB. 

When you run it, you will notice some special features. For example, the correct time is not displayed. With a double click on the clock, however, you can set it as well as the current date and time zone. The content of the hard drive is also not the same as the real FP in your computer. But you will find some almost forgotten treasures of Windows 95 - games like Minesweeper, the character map and of course Paint.

The good old WordPad is also at the start (haha, “start”). Written documents and files created with other programs can even be saved in the Windows 95 emulation. If you close the program and open it again, then these files as well as program windows that were left open and their work status from the last session are still there. So you can always immerse yourself in "the good old days", when you didn't necessarily need an antivirus program on your Windows PC because the private internet was still in its infancy;)

Download Windows 95

You can find the download of the app on this github page. After downloading, you can start the program (at least on the Mac) directly and dive into the past with a click on the corresponding button. Have fun with Minesweeper, FreeCell and Solitaire! 

Johannes Domke

After graduating from high school, Johannes completed an apprenticeship as a business assistant specializing in foreign languages. But then he decided to research and write, which resulted in his independence. For several years he has been working for Sir Apfelot, among others. His articles include product introductions, news, manuals, video games, consoles, and more. He follows Apple keynotes live via stream.