How To Install Windows 3.1 on an iPad (howtogeek.com) 53
How To Geek: To run Windows 3.1 on your iPad, you'll need to buy an app called iDOS 2 that's available in the App Store. Currently, it costs $4.99, which seems like a bargain considering what it can do. iDOS has a spotty history on the App Store. Way back in 2010, Apple pulled an earlier version of the app because it allowed people to run unapproved code loaded through iTunes. Last year, its author updated the app to pull DOS files from iCloud or the Files app, and Apple approved it. So far, it's still listed, so let's hope that it sticks.
After purchasing and installing iDOS 2 on your iPad, run it once to make sure that it creates whatever folders it needs to work in your Files app. It will create an "iDOS" folder in your "On My iPad" area in Files. That's important. Before diving into the Windows setup process below, you might want to familiarize yourself with how iDOS works. In a vertical orientation, you'll see a window near the top of the screen that includes the video output of the emulated MS-DOS machine. Below that, you'll see a toolbar that lets you load disk images (if you tap the floppy drive), check the DOSBox emulation speed (a black box with green numbers), and take a screenshot or change Settings (by tapping the power button). At the bottom of the screen, you'll find an onscreen keyboard that lets you type whatever you want into the MS-DOS machine. If you flip your iPad horizontally, the MS-DOS display area will take over the screen, and you can pull up a toolbar that lets you access the keyboard, mouse, and gamepad options at any time by tapping the top center of the screen.
After purchasing and installing iDOS 2 on your iPad, run it once to make sure that it creates whatever folders it needs to work in your Files app. It will create an "iDOS" folder in your "On My iPad" area in Files. That's important. Before diving into the Windows setup process below, you might want to familiarize yourself with how iDOS works. In a vertical orientation, you'll see a window near the top of the screen that includes the video output of the emulated MS-DOS machine. Below that, you'll see a toolbar that lets you load disk images (if you tap the floppy drive), check the DOSBox emulation speed (a black box with green numbers), and take a screenshot or change Settings (by tapping the power button). At the bottom of the screen, you'll find an onscreen keyboard that lets you type whatever you want into the MS-DOS machine. If you flip your iPad horizontally, the MS-DOS display area will take over the screen, and you can pull up a toolbar that lets you access the keyboard, mouse, and gamepad options at any time by tapping the top center of the screen.
How about Microsoft Bob? (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:1)
Or at least enjoy triggering the bug that makes the entire desk burn.
windows 3.1 (Score:4, Informative)
Re:why (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
To play solitaire, duh
Re: windows 3.1 (Score:3)
Youâ(TM)re new here arenâ(TM)t you?
Re: (Score:2)
bu why? (5, Informative)
Umm... why are you even here?
Re: (Score:2)
Because it is the most functional form of side-loading that Apple has approved so far.
Re: (Score:2)
For certain, quite specialist, meanings of "pure".
Re: (Score:2)
wh ask why?
Why not Win9x (Score:3)
Shouldn't it also be able to install Win 9x?
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Needs better i386 emulation then DosBox provides. At least if it did load, they could run WinOS2 (IBM fork of Win3.1) and have a calendar app that supports today's date.
Re: (Score:3)
For sure, but it's probably not a good idea. The problem, if I remember correctly, was that the way virtual memory worked made it rough on flash or solid state drives.
Remember that this is nothing new. Someone had ported DOSBox to the Blackberry Playbook [theverge.com] You could even run Windows 95 [youtube.com]
You can also run 3.1 and 95 on gDosbox on an Android.
Re: (Score:2)
Shouldn't it also be able to install Win 9x?
Then I can run the greatest versions of Microsoft Office ever made, 97/2000. The last versions without DRM.
Re: (Score:2)
Win 9x loads some DLL's above 2GB, which IIRC, DosBox doesn't support. It was how they broke Win32 on OS/2
Not impress (Score:2)
Now if it actually was running, that would be impressive.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Yeah, Windows 3.1 can even run in a browser. No need for an $5 app.
Re: (Score:2)
The impressive part of this, as I understand, is that it somehow got onto the app store in the first place.
I was (am still) pretty sure that Apple does not permit virtual machines or emulators on the app store. It would not surprise me if this gets pulled.
It is not technology, it is just Apple Lock in (Score:2)
Our Phones and Tablets that we get Today are equivalent to the speed and performance of a middle tier PC or Laptop that we got 5-10 years ago. Even with Hardware emulation as it is a different family of CPU Running, and a much different internal hardware often than what a PC has to offer, these Mobile Devices have the power to run OS's and software for Decade old Computer systems.
You iPad should be able to run not just Windows 3.1 but Run Windows 7 fairly well.
However Apple and to a lesser extent Google has
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe he's German.
Re: (Score:2)
I like It.
Has a Kind of Roller coaster Effect.
Re: (Score:2)
I think he's using it to add emphasis.
Re: (Score:2)
As a former instructor of English as a Second Language, I think it's distracting as fuck.
Re: (Score:2)
For sure, though I wasn't commenting on the utility, I was only trying to answer the AC's question.
Re: (Score:2)
My guess:
Phones and Tablets are capitalized to emphasize they are what the sentence is about, and Today is an accident thinking it's a day and therefore gets capitalized.
There's a loose and ever evolving grammar to capitalization in internet and text speak that is different than formal writing.
Re: (Score:2)
They could speak however they like.
The way I read your example as typed is more of a condescending tone (over emphasizing words to express you think the listener is an idiot), which is definitely something that has existed in spoken grammar for quote a while. If it were truly random shouting it would be off-putting, just as it would have been if GP used full word caps (to be fair, someone being condescending is a different type of off-putting, but I didn't get that read from anyone in this thread).
yawn (Score:2)
You can get UTM instead (Score:2)
Why install? (Score:3, Informative)
Just run it here: https://copy.sh/v86/?profile=w... [copy.sh]
Granted, actually installing it will give you much more power and freedom than what nanny iOS allows you to do. ;(
This has now taken the lead on stupidest projects (Score:2)
of all time.
Re: (Score:2)
But the user-interface of Windows 3.1 was *so much* better than on an iPad. Sheesh.
(there were good reasons why Win95 was considered a Great Leap Forward, those reasons included Win 3.1 and WfW 3.11)
Gaming the way it used to be (Score:1)
DOS? Windows 3.1?? (Score:1)
Gross. Like peanut-butter-on-pizza gross.
However, I'm certain that there are life-critical safety systems that still require them.
What could possibly go wrong with a 30+ year old operating system that hasn't seen a security fix since not long after it existed?
Re: (Score:2)
I can't imagine anyone writing malware that targets people running Windows 3.1 in a VM on an iPad. How many people could that possibly target?
Besides, getting 3.1 online in a VM is not an easy task. I wouldn't worry about that at all.
Re: (Score:2)
Not saying that attacking a Win3.1 VM would be easy, nor worth doing.
Just that I think things that are safety-critical, or even business-critical, might need a tiny bit of an update for lots of reasons, security probably being only a small part of them.
Just wait a week or two and you'll no doubt see a story here about some ancient pile of crap dying from dependencies older than most of those reading this.
One of the most dramatic recently was that one of China's municipal systems reportedly depended on Adobe
Re: (Score:2)
Software is like pizza in the refrigerator. You REALLY don't want to leave it sitting too long ...
Contrary to what most programmers on the Internet seem to think, I'd guess that most of the software in the world is embedded firmware and never upgraded. You may have one computer and a smartphone on your desk, but don't forget the monitor(s), desk phone, printer, copier, fax machine, cordless phone, calculator, radio, microwave oven, vending machines, building's fire alarm, intrusion alarm, automobiles in the parking lot, just to name some within my line of sight. (Not to mention the embedded firmware I
Re: (Score:2)
Some of those are firegapped from any network, and those are probably safe for now. But those that are Internet-connected tend to both have, and require, occasional updates, even if only for security reasons.
And even there, suppose that an updated regulatory standard requires an update to your 30 year old fax machine firmware. You're still going to want it to be possible, and it wont' be possible if all the people who knew the now-obscure language it was written in have retired or died.
There are exception
Re: (Score:2)
I remember the train story. I'm not sure it's really the same thing though. The problem wasn't that the software was old, it was that Adobe purposefully killed it.
Software is like pizza in the refrigerator. You REALLY don't want to leave it sitting too long, if you're hoping to eat it.
I don't see things the same way. I see old software as an achievement. It's all the things surrounding old software that lead to trouble. Usually because the OS and tools can't easily moved to newer hardware. The world still runs on COBOL, after all. When it comes to software 'old' might as well be synonymous with 'reliable'.
Unlike hardwa
Re: (Score:2)
I see old software as an achievement.
If it lasts and doesn't actually need to be updated, then I'll agree. But in my world at least, that is very much the exception, not the rule.
The world still runs on COBOL, after all.
Some of it does, sure. Several major and important sectors of the economy. But here's a hint as to why. No major COBOL implementation that I'm aware of depends on any external piece of software besides itself, the other basic pieces of the COBOL ecosystem (e.g., JCL, CICS, etc
Re: (Score:2)
There's a **LOT** of stuff out there that doesn't run a "modern" operating system and never will. If a company pays half a million for a computerized milling machine or MRI they're not going to throw it away just because the OS is no longer supported. A problem with the DOS-based OSs is that it's difficult at best to install on modern hardware. I don't know if the iToy can emulate a serial port, but if it could there would be a market for this (probably an Android setup would be better, but for some rea
That's okay but (Score:2)
I need to go full OG: tell me when I can run COBOL on iPad. Tons of business-critical applications out there.
Re: (Score:2)
COBOL is all about manipulating data, large amounts of fixed-format data (or data from databases). I don't think you are going to find such on an iPad.
Re: (Score:2)
Try ish, which gives you Alpine Linux on an iPad.
As far as I can see, there is a build of gnucobol for it which you could install. I haven't tried it so I don't know if it works.
It isn't in the apk repository, so you would need to install it manually.
Install abandonware... (Score:2)
This is cool, instead of Windows 3.1 or GEM, install Lotus Magellan. Back in 1989 it seemed an app in search of a market, use, now it might have finally found one. :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
JoshK.
Oh, might be fun to install some of the games like "Pool of Radiance" or "The 7th Guest" ...
But does it run Linux? (Score:2)
Inquiring minds want to know.
Re: (Score:2)
The iPad? Yes. It runs Alpine under iSH. Sort of. Which means, not really, but kinda.
Windows 3.1 Had More a Uniform User Interface (Score:2)
Windows 95 is possible (Score:2)
You can run Windows 95 in a Javascript/Webassembly emulator in Safari by visiting a webpage that has it.
Performace is OK, probably faster than a computer from that era, but not great. However trying to move the mouse on the touchscreen is not so good, even if you use a mouse with your iPad, because the Windows cursor moves at a different speed to the iPad cursor.