Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. Windows 95 at the Wayback Machine (archived January 20, 1998) If you’re looking for slightly newer ways to pass the time, then leave the 1990s behind and get started with Steam instead, where thousands of PC games are available for you to play on Windows, macOS, and Linux.Windows 95 desktop, showing its icons, taskbar and welcome screen If you’re looking to scratch that nostalgia itch, stick with Windows 10 and use compatibility mode, a virtual machine or a solution like DOSBOX to get your retro gaming fix. While Windows 10 isn’t really designed to play older Windows 95 games, it remains possible with a few workarounds. Some (but not all) games from this era require DOS to work-you’ll need to research the game you’re looking to play to check if this is the case. DOSBOX is free and available for download on multiple platforms, including Windows 10.ĭOSBOX, as the name suggests, will only work with DOS-based games. If you have the original files for a DOS-based game to hand, then you can give DOSBOX a try yourself without buying the game a second time. For some older DOS-based games, GOG includes DOSBOX, a DOS emulator that runs older games on Windows 10, alongside the game files. GOG is a gaming marketplace that allows you to buy older games without resorting to piracy, where suspicious files from dodgy-looking websites can often bring nasty surprises. It’s possible to set up a Windows XP virtual machine using Virtualbox and Microsoft-provided files or, if you’re looking for a more realistic gaming experience for Windows 95 games on Windows 10, you could install Windows 95 in a virtual machine and play older games using the originally-supported operating system instead. Just don’t allow internet or network access to an older Windows virtual machine-it’s a security nightmare.

Virtual machines are sandboxed and shouldn’t allow for any interaction between the host machine and the installed virtual machine (unless you allow it). If you can’t run older games using it, then installing an older version of Windows in a virtual machine might be the answer. Windows 10 isn’t the best operating system for playing older games. However, the Windows compatibility mode doesn’t work for every bit of older software out there-if your game doesn’t launch, you’ll need to try something else to play Windows 95 games on Windows 10. If Windows can find alternative settings, it will attempt to apply them and allow you to test them.

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