Windows 95 Can Actually Run on a Nintendo 3DS XL

Even though Microsoft’s Windows 95 operating system was not designed to work with touchscreens and analog sticks, it seems that the OS can actually run on portable gaming consoles such as the Nintendo 3DS XL. Recently, a GBATemp fan named Shutterbug2000 has decided to use DOSbox emulation in order to install Windows 95 on this particular console model, and the results are definitely noteworthy as the OS fired up and reportedly provided a basic desktop. Impressive as this may be, it’s not likely that classic Microsoft games or other applications will run on the Nintendo 3DS, at least not in the near future.

The project was put together to prove that the OS can actually be installed on a Nintendo console, but there’s not much else that it can do right now apart from booting up. Still, seeing the OS in action gives me hope that fan-made Microsoft portable gaming systems will actually become a reality at some point. It would certainly be nice to play games from the original Microsoft Entertainment Pack on the Nintendo 3DS, including Minesweeper, Golf, Tetris, TicTactics or Taipei, but it’s probably too early to talk about such things right now.

You can watch the OS booting up on the portable console in the following video. It’s a shame that we don’t get to see the actual desktop.