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You Can Now Boot a Windows 95 PC Inside Minecraft and Play Doom On It (theverge.com) 84

Posted by msmash from the stranger-things dept.
If you've ever wanted to build a real and working Windows 95 PC inside Minecraft, now is the time. From a report: A new VM Computers mod has been created for Minecraft that allows players to order computer parts from a satellite orbiting around a Minecraft world and build a computer that actually boots Windows 95 and a variety of other operating systems. The mod uses VirtualBox, free and open-source virtual machine software, to run operating systems like Windows 95. Within Minecraft you simply place a PC case block and then use it to create virtual hard drives to install operating systems from ISO files. Naturally, the Minecraft community has been experimenting with the VM Computers mod, and someone has managed to get Doom running within Minecraft as a result.
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You Can Now Boot a Windows 95 PC Inside Minecraft and Play Doom On It More

You Can Now Boot a Windows 95 PC Inside Minecraft and Play Doom On It

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  • DOOM was a DOS Game (Score:4, Insightful)

    by jfdavis668 ( 1414919 ) on Monday July 27, 2020 @03:46PM (#60337113)
    Why would you need Windows 95?
    • from tfs:

      ...95 and a variety of other operating systems.

    • you make a good point.

      for the record, it was easy to

      format /s

      a W95 "system" boot floppy to boot into MS-DOS.

    • Re:DOOM was a DOS Game (Score:5, Funny)

      by OrangeTide ( 124937 ) on Monday July 27, 2020 @04:03PM (#60337145) Homepage Journal

      Windows 95 was also a DOS game.

      • Re:DOOM was a DOS Game (Score:5, Funny)

        by NoNonAlphaCharsHere ( 2201864 ) on Monday July 27, 2020 @04:22PM (#60337203)

        Windows 95 was also a DOS game.

        A strange game.
        The only winning move is not to play.

        How about a nice game of chess?

      • Re:DOOM was a DOS Game (Score:5, Informative)

        by Solandri ( 704621 ) on Monday July 27, 2020 @05:07PM (#60337305)
        Should be marked informative, not funny. Windows 95 and 98 (and ME if you were unfortunate enough to have experienced it) were just a GUI shell running on top of DOS. Microsoft jumped through hoops to try to prevent it from running on alternate DOSes, like DR-DOS and OS/2's DOS box.

        Windows 2000 (based on Windows NT) was the first widespread Windows release which didn't run on top of DOS. Not surprisingly, it was also the first widely used Windows version which was actually stable. If a program hung in Win2k, Windows continued to run and you could kill the hung program. If a program hung in Win 3.1/95/98/ME, it never returned control of the CPU back to Windows, and the only way to recover was to reboot the computer.
        • Windows 2000 (based on Windows NT) was the first widespread Windows release which didn't run on top of DOS. That and Windows NT 4.0.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by caseih ( 160668 )

          Windows 95 was much more than a DOS shell. Windows 95 bootstrapped itself from real-mode DOS, true, but it was a 32-bit, preemptive multithreaded, and protected memory operating system. When Win95 was running, MS-DOS was still in memory, and I think it is used by the 16-bit vdms, and it provided some 16-bit driver/hardware access to Windows. But in all other respects, the 32-bit Windows 95 kernel took over. Probably you could argue it was a hybrid 16/32-bit OS. Definitely more than a shell of MS-DOS, t

          • Re:DOOM was a DOS Game (Score:5, Informative)

            by theurge14 ( 820596 ) on Monday July 27, 2020 @07:25PM (#60337585)

            Preemptive with a huge asterisk. Lest we forget the "wiggling my mouse around causes my CD-RW drive to lag while burning this CD and now I have another coaster" experience.

            • A lot of that had to do with how bus interrupts were implemented on PCs back then. Linux also had many issues with locking up when accessing peripherals.

              Plus, early CD burners were just garbage. The first one I owned that actually worked was a TDK, which set me back $300. My friend swore by Plextor, though.

          • DOS didn't do anything under Windows 95 unless you were running drivers in it. Then it slowed down your entire experience. Most people didn't do it, though.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by functor0 ( 89014 )
          Nah, Windows NT 4 was already a step down from Windows NT 3.51 where they still had the graphics driver outside of ring 0. Bad graphics driver? No problem, it just got restarted without a reboot and everything was fine .. until you hit the next graphics driver bug :) Windows NT 4 was notoriously buggy and crashed all the time since it had moved the graphics driver into ring 0 for performance problems. I think the drivers had ironed out most of the bugs by Windows 2000 and it was much better.

        • Windows 95 and 98 (and ME if you were unfortunate enough to have experienced it) were just a GUI shell running on top of DOS.

          Not quite. Windows 95 yes, Windows 98 no. Windows 95 was effectively a program on top of DOS, Windows 98 however only used DOS as an early stage bootloader and then proceeded to be its own thing from there. The release of Windows 98 as such saw a lot of DOS based software break, especially anything which relied on direct access to the hardware since Windows 98 was its own OS and DOS effectively ran on it once it booted.

          Windows 2000 (based on Windows NT) was the first widespread Windows release which didn't run on top of DOS. Not surprisingly, it was also the first widely used Windows version which was actually stable.

          It may have been the first stable version targeted at consumers, but the NT kernel has al

        • Ah ME! What a festering POS that was. I remember buying a computer that came pre-loaded with Windows ME (or maybe I bought it, I hope not), I don't think it lasted a week before I replaced it.

          I think it's big selling point was it tried to use "Wizards" for everything to simplify things for users. The only problem is that much of the time they didn't work and the resultant OS was a bloated slow affair.

          As I recall the only issues with NT/2000/7 was hardware compatibility and drivers where support was lacking.

    • Re:DOOM was a DOS Game (Score:5, Funny)

      by MightyMartian ( 840721 ) on Monday July 27, 2020 @04:05PM (#60337153) Journal

      Because if you've constructed some sort of x86 virtual machine in Minecraft capable of booting DOS, why stop there?

      For extra points, someone should write an x86 virtual machine in Minecraft that boots Linux, then runs DOSEMU in a Javascript x86 emulator and runs Windows 95 in that! On a modern CPU that should almost be playable.

    • Windows 95 ran under MSDOS. Starting with Windows NT 4 and Windows 2000, it was the other way around: the MSDOS command line ran under Windows. So you really weren't using Windows 95 to play Doom, you were using the version of MSDOS that Windows 95 happened to come with to play Doom. After Windows 98, Windows wouldn't let DOS programs running from the command line have direct access to the hardware, which is what a DOS4GW-extended game like Doom needed to work.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Scoth ( 879800 )

        It started with Windows NT 3.1, not NT 4. There were 3(ish) releases of NT before 4.

        This [microsoft.com] is also an interesting read. It was even on Slashdot a lot of years ago. The short version is there wasn't a lot of MS-DOS left by the time Windows 95 booted, at least ideally. Like that article mentions you can end up with some legacy drivers and interrupt hooks that do unpleasant things that keep more of it around.

        Windows ME supported stuff like DOS4GW fine inside its DOS box. It no longer supported directly booting t

      • It really wasn't quite that simple. Windows 98 just added another layer of security, which prevented mapping all the IO ports in a DOS VM, but that change didn't really affect whether it was running under or over MSDOS.

    • Why would you need Windows 95?

      Because it was such a good malware platform

    • Why would you need Windows 95?

      Microsoft will be after you for a licence for that copy of Win95. It was a lousy platform for Doom anyway. There was a version written for it, Doom 95, but it was mostly ignored by serious Doom players who went into DOS mode to play one of the several DOS ports, if they were not playing a Linux version.

    • does it come with the 'find' function that lets you locate ip on the network , that was really fun when cable just made it to belgium ... you could like waltz in everywhere they had shared folders , like everywhere that was connected

  • Ah, memories (Score:3)

    by NoNonAlphaCharsHere ( 2201864 ) on Monday July 27, 2020 @03:52PM (#60337121)
    This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.

    If the problem persists contact the program vendor.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by sconeu ( 64226 )

      I forget. Did the program call the cops?

    • Compared to Windows 3.1, Windows 95 was friggen amazing. I was actually excited when W95 came out!
      It seems like crap by today's standards, but at the time it was a big step up in terms of usability, multitasking ability, more modern interface, new GUI widgets, etc. I'm not a shill, but I've had to use worse and therefore appreciated it.

      • Windows95 also had protected memory and proper 32-bit addressing!

        • It had (has?) segmented memory, but it's not protected in any way.

          • I'm not sure what you mean by segmented memory. 32-bit x86 apps don't use segment:offset addressing. They use real 32-bit pointers. With the advent of the 80386, each process had its own address space and an invalid memory operation couldn't affect other programs (or corrupt the kernel) making Win95 significantly more stable than previous-generation operating systems. You need hardware support for this which is why it couldn't exist prior to the 80386 MMU. Sure your app now crashed instead of "borrowing

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Toonol ( 1057698 )
        While there have been a lot of advancements since then, I'd argue that Win95 may have been the peak of efficient UI design for windows. It's been regressing since then in most ways.

    • "Long filename support"

      (Loads Command Prompt)

      C:\PROGRA~\:_

    • This program has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down.

      I'm sure police departments around the world were thrilled at grandma getting her first Windows PC.

  • I've seen a lot of the things built in minecraft using red stone and it's amazing. I'd love to try myself but I can't wrap my head around it. can fix printers and computer but cant understand how to do advanced stuff with red stone in mincraft. man i feel old now.

    • Re:crazy red stone in minecraft (Score:5, Informative)

      by UnknownSoldier ( 67820 ) on Monday July 27, 2020 @04:20PM (#60337201)

      You mean something like this? ;-)
      SciCraft Presents: How Automation Can Enrich Your Game Experience [youtube.com]

      > [I] can fix printers and computer but can't understand how to do advanced stuff with red stone in Minecraft.

      I can give some tips for "mastering" redstone.

      * Start small. Learn the components such as Repeaters, Comparator, Torches, and why you would need them.
      * Watch Redstone University [youtube.com] series.
      * Build a simple redstone circuits such as a pressure plate opening one door. Move on to two doors.
      * Watch Mumbo Jumbo [youtube.com], ilmango [youtube.com], and SethBling [youtube.com].
      * One of THE keys keys to understanding redstone is realizing it powers the wire AND the block below it.
      * F3 debug screen is your friend so you can see the power level.
      * Look at an item sorter and understand HOW it works.
      * UResearch how an item with overflow protection and Hopper Locking.
      * Learn about BUD [gamepedia.com] and QC [gamepedia.com]

      BUD = Block Update Detector
      QC = Quasi-Connectivity

      Good luck!

      • That should be:

        * Research how an Item sorter with overflow protection uses Hopper Locking.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by tsuliga ( 553869 )

        No mod points now, but thanks for the informative post.
        I know very little about Minecraft, but your post makes me more interested in it.
        I will look at your links.

  • Recursive Minecraft (Score:3)

    by alzoron ( 210577 ) on Monday July 27, 2020 @04:12PM (#60337177) Journal

    Now we just need to get Minecraft running on that in-game virtual PC.

  • Intriguing (Score:2)

    by jd ( 1658 )

    So you could build a neural network or genetic algorithm under Linux for controlling a creature, then mod something to patch it into this AI.

    Have a wolf or a silverfish able to learn about its environment.

  • incorrect, clickbait (Score:5, Informative)

    by EkriirkE ( 1075937 ) on Monday July 27, 2020 @04:39PM (#60337235) Homepage
    Title should be "You can now view the framebuffer of a separate standalone dosbox instance inside Minecraft" Minecraft is not running anything. It's just a viewport
    • It would be cool if you could run the other process on a server and the players could view it without having to install or host it.

  • If you've ever wanted to build a real and working Windows 95 PC inside Minecraft

    Umm, no, I can't say that has ever been on the list of things that I wanted to do . . .

  • I set up a debian VM inside Win10 for work and despite installing all the guest modules, VirtualBox stubbornly refused to go above SVGA resolution and cut and paste between linux and windows never worked. A dreadful VM. Oh yeah, and it's an Oracle product. Pure coincidence I'm sure.

    • You did it backwards, put a real OS on the physical box and virtualize Microsoft's crap. Win 10 under Linux Mint works great, and cut & paste is fine. Rather than use virtual disk file, I point virtualbox to the win10 partition the machine came with.

    • I've got several Virtualbox VMs, Linux and a few Win flavors, running high res graphics with great results under a windows host OS, as have many others.

      For what is is, Virtualbox is great.

  • The article says they use VirtualBox for the emulation; This would be way more interesting if it was still 100% pure java.

  • We played the Astro Chicken game inside Leisure Suit Larry's Space Quest.

  • STILL not quite at the meta-level of the .HACK games for the PS2 where you're playing an MMO on a fake OS on a fake computer on a PS2.
  • I'd prefer to just play the good game without the extra bloat.

  • Can it run Crysis?

  • >"If you've ever wanted to build a real and working Windows 95 PC"

    Sorry, couldn't get past even this first part of a sentence without laughing hysterically. Not sure which is more funny, the "ever wanted" or the "real and working" part, but together...

  • See subject.

  • Maybe I'll go back and play some vintage games. I don't need Minecraft, though. But if there is a decent Win95 image for VirtualBox, might be a fun project.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Scoth ( 879800 )

      Virtualbox is actually not great for Win9x. The VM additions don't support it, so you get limited sound and graphics support and it tends to run very slowly compared to NT-based Windows (but modern PCs are fast enough that it hardly matters anymore speed-wise). Virtualbox supposedly supports Sound Blaster 16 emulation but since it's rarely used it tends to be broken in my experience. Your best bet if you actually need something that requires Windows 95 is either PCem or 86Box. They emulate era-appropriate h

      • VMware Player is the business for running Windows under Linux. It has the best d3d driver layer by far.

      • Thanks. Yeah I might fuss with 86Box. I'll have to see if my MSDN account has a Windows95 images or poke around dark corners of the internet!
  • Malware that runs on your W95 virtual PC within Minecraft. :p

  • Not as impressive as (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Malays2 bowman ( 6656916 ) on Monday July 27, 2020 @08:24PM (#60337667)

    When people were building actual working CPUs out of common Minecraft blocks.

  • The game must run on more platforms than anything else ever. I'm thinking here might even be more ports of this than "Hello World!"!

  • Over a decade ago I built a physical pinball machine powered by WinXP. While not integrated into the game, I considered at that time running DosBox to invoke a pinball sim game to play games from the same set that this physical pinball game was originally to be a part of.

    The thought of just being able to do that was probably a lot more fun than playing the sim itself.

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