This is so cool & I'm really amazed by it but I couldn't help laugh at the readme
> We strongly recommend contributing with Claude Code or similar AI coding tools. [...] Of course, coding by hand is also welcome.
Funny time we live in lol
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lqs_
Hidden feature: right-click any executable and select "View Resources" to browse its embedded resources like icons, bitmaps, dialogs, and version info. It even supports viewing Delphi forms (though Delphi programs can't actually run yet). Think of it as a browser-based Resource Hacker or eXeScope.
I wondered how much of this could be done with an LLM agent, and here we have the answer
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jeroenhd
Seems to run a lot faster than the previous proof-of-concept I've found (https://www.boxedwine.org/app). Then again, that website runs an entire Linux VM to support Wine.
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realityfactchex
Cool concept. I tried six different old Windows executables from programs I wrote way back when.
FWIW:
* My old VB 6 .exe apps all fail with "Reason: Unimplemented API: MSVBVM60.DLL..."
* My old QuickBASIC .exe apps fail in various other ways ("Illegal function call", etc.).
Keep on hacking.
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hard_times
I wonder if this is the future of "I need to run my legacy Windows enterprise app on modern hardware"?
I suppose we're also not limited to WinNT look and feel, and can render dialogs, buttons, windows with any CSS framework?
Although, as the cost of building software is tumbling down, it will make more sense to re-build from scratch, targeting whatever runtime or platform you need.
pathartl
I had a not-really-similar idea of hooking Windows GUI APIs and exposing them over websockets to create a psuedo-RDP and rendering the UI in the browser. My purpose was to provide a remote interface for old dedicated game servers that can only be controlled via a GUI.
smusamashah
I can right click and inspect HTML. I was thinking it will all be rendered on a single canvas. It's not. All the window elements like buttons, title bars etc are html divs. This is awesome.
maniazi83
This is seriously impressive. Emulating x86 + stubbing enough Win32 APIs in the browser is not trivial.
How are you handling system calls that expect filesystem or registry access? Are those fully stubbed/mocked, or mapped to some in-browser virtual layer?
Also curious how you’re handling performance for heavier binaries — interpreted JS/WASM core?
ddgflorida
Nice. QBASIC FOR i = 1 to 5: PRINT i: NEXT hung up after 4. The shift key didn't work in the Qbasic Editor.
The game starts, it begins rendering the board, but then hangs.
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TechSquidTV
Please let me plan Sim Theme Park. I can't seem to run it on Crossover on my mac.
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ale42
Funny project...
Tried to run SHELL from QBASIC, but it crashes:
D:\qbasic.exe has encountered a problem and needs to close.
Reason: illegal instruction
Address: 0x00002fee
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stuaxo
Not sure shift is working. I tried using QBASIC but couldn't type : only ; because of that.
Then I tried running the program SHELL and it crashed.
itintheory
Seems like the .scr files trigger CrowdStrike Falcon. Not clear where the executables run here come from...
haonnoah
Pretty cool. The pipes program doesn't seem to have color.
Thoughts on making programs launch from a URL parameter? IE Launching a screensaver or game?
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b3lvedere
Aww. The FreeCell cheats don't work, except for -1 and -2 :)
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em3rgent0rdr
Impressive. Noting however that double-clicking is not working in Minesweeper. :)
Dwedit
Not enough Shell32 to run Winfile or Notepad.
Also the command prompt won't list directories for some reason.
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tty456
Winamp 2.x would be great to add if allowed!
KellyCriterion
they even have SSMAZE.SCR, that 2.5D rendering screensaver! :D
This is so cool & I'm really amazed by it but I couldn't help laugh at the readme
> We strongly recommend contributing with Claude Code or similar AI coding tools. [...] Of course, coding by hand is also welcome.
Funny time we live in lol
Hidden feature: right-click any executable and select "View Resources" to browse its embedded resources like icons, bitmaps, dialogs, and version info. It even supports viewing Delphi forms (though Delphi programs can't actually run yet). Think of it as a browser-based Resource Hacker or eXeScope.
Can it run doom?
Just a couple of hours ago I was thinking about this project from some time ago doing the same thing: https://github.com/evmar/retrowin32
I wondered how much of this could be done with an LLM agent, and here we have the answer
Seems to run a lot faster than the previous proof-of-concept I've found (https://www.boxedwine.org/app). Then again, that website runs an entire Linux VM to support Wine.
Cool concept. I tried six different old Windows executables from programs I wrote way back when.
FWIW:
* My old VB 6 .exe apps all fail with "Reason: Unimplemented API: MSVBVM60.DLL..."
* My old QuickBASIC .exe apps fail in various other ways ("Illegal function call", etc.).
Keep on hacking.
I wonder if this is the future of "I need to run my legacy Windows enterprise app on modern hardware"?
I suppose we're also not limited to WinNT look and feel, and can render dialogs, buttons, windows with any CSS framework?
Although, as the cost of building software is tumbling down, it will make more sense to re-build from scratch, targeting whatever runtime or platform you need.
I had a not-really-similar idea of hooking Windows GUI APIs and exposing them over websockets to create a psuedo-RDP and rendering the UI in the browser. My purpose was to provide a remote interface for old dedicated game servers that can only be controlled via a GUI.
I can right click and inspect HTML. I was thinking it will all be rendered on a single canvas. It's not. All the window elements like buttons, title bars etc are html divs. This is awesome.
This is seriously impressive. Emulating x86 + stubbing enough Win32 APIs in the browser is not trivial.
How are you handling system calls that expect filesystem or registry access? Are those fully stubbed/mocked, or mapped to some in-browser virtual layer?
Also curious how you’re handling performance for heavier binaries — interpreted JS/WASM core?
Nice. QBASIC FOR i = 1 to 5: PRINT i: NEXT hung up after 4. The shift key didn't work in the Qbasic Editor.
This is super cool!
Checkout retrowin32 for something similar but written in Rust and not specifically targeting the web: https://github.com/evmar/retrowin32
Tried it with REVERSI.EXE from Windows 3.0 from https://winworldpc.com/download/c2bbc28f-177a-c2b2-5311-c3a4... DISK02.IMG
(you have to first uncompress it, for example with 7zip).
Result:The game starts, it begins rendering the board, but then hangs.
Please let me plan Sim Theme Park. I can't seem to run it on Crossover on my mac.
Funny project...
Tried to run SHELL from QBASIC, but it crashes:
Not sure shift is working. I tried using QBASIC but couldn't type : only ; because of that.
Then I tried running the program SHELL and it crashed.
Seems like the .scr files trigger CrowdStrike Falcon. Not clear where the executables run here come from...
Pretty cool. The pipes program doesn't seem to have color. Thoughts on making programs launch from a URL parameter? IE Launching a screensaver or game?
Aww. The FreeCell cheats don't work, except for -1 and -2 :)
Impressive. Noting however that double-clicking is not working in Minesweeper. :)
Not enough Shell32 to run Winfile or Notepad.
Also the command prompt won't list directories for some reason.
Winamp 2.x would be great to add if allowed!
they even have SSMAZE.SCR, that 2.5D rendering screensaver! :D
Whoa, this is pretty sick!!
Nice