Quote:
Originally Posted by Katsunami
Y
That's no problem. I run Windows software back to 1998 without any problems. Baldur's Gate from 1998 is the oldest piece of Windows software I run, and except for some compatibility settings, it doesn't make a fuss. That game was written for DirectX 6 on Windows 98, and it now runs on DirectX 9 (installed alongside 11) on Windows 7 x64.
I run many programs and games created between 1998 and 2012 on this same computer, directly in Windows 7 x64. The OS provides at least 15 years of compatibility.
If I need or want anything that's even older than 1998, such as a DOS-program or game, then I run it in DOSBox, or if I really need to in case of 16-bit Win3x program or some stuff that *REALLY* doesn't want to run, then I pull out a Virtual Machine running FreeDOS / MS-DOS and Windows 3.11 or Windows 98. That hasn't happened lately as I don't use any Windows 3.x software anymore, and everything else I have runs either directly in Windows 7 x64, or in DOSBox.
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Try running Word 97 under Windows 7 x 64. Or PowerDVD 5 (it'll run, and corrupt your boot record because of direct reads/writes based upon the XP boot record. 20 movies and you have to reflash your x 64 system.) Or other obscure 16 bit software written for Windows 3.1 or 95. Microsoft <could> have ported it's 16 bit emulator, but it chose to force people to abandon old software (for their profit).
Now I can run those pieces of software on Oracle's Virtualbox with no problem (PowerDVD has a problem with speed, but I run it on a first gen Atom chip, I suspect a i5 or i7 would have no problem). But why should I <PAY> Microsoft, over and over again, to run my paid for software (a new OS every few years at a few hundred dollars a pop, that you have to phone in to activate...and relearn the interface just because somebody thinks it's slick)
Give me a Linux base machine and Virtualbox for my XP machine. No phone home, no perpetually relearning an interface...(unless I <want> to.)
Best of both worlds.