Skip to main content

Developer hacks Apple Watch to boot and run Windows 95

apple-watch-95

Developer Nick Lee has managed to hack a working version of Windows 95 onto his Apple Watch. The utility of this is close to zero — but it is hilarious to watch. It highlights how smart wristwatches like Apple Watch are now as powerful as (if not more than) desktop computers from the turn of the century. Watch the full video of the ‘microsoftOS’ Apple Watch in action after the jump …

Obviously, it isn’t normally possible to run arbitrary code on an Apple Watch; the developer explains the necessary steps and workarounds he had to use in the blog post.

The process is based off a method well-known Apple developer Steven Troughton Smith found to run native UIKit apps on Apple Watch, escaping the numerous limitations of Apple’s public sanctioned WatchKit framework.

As the OS is running in emulation, it is a lot slower than if the Watch ran the Windows kernel natively. Lee says it takes about an hour for the device to boot into a usable state. When Windows 95 was new, nobody was thinking of tablets or touchscreen iPhones apart from in sci-fi movies. Now, the same power is available on your wrist.

 

FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.

You’re reading 9to5Mac — experts who break news about Apple and its surrounding ecosystem, day after day. Be sure to check out our homepage for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to stay in the loop. Don’t know where to start? Check out our exclusive stories, reviews, how-tos, and subscribe to our YouTube channel

Comments

  1. giuseppe9000 - 8 years ago

    a true miracle was windows 95 running on pentium 166mhz with 16 mb ram

    apple watch, like iphone 4, has 800 mhz cpu and 512mb ram

    • giuseppe9000 - 8 years ago

      from “highlights how … Apple Watch are now as powerful as (if not more than) desktop computers from the turn of the century”

    • gandomyr - 8 years ago

      Not true. Back in the day I ran Windows 95 on a machine with 100 Mhz and 8 MB RAM. Though it ran kinda poorly, it was far from a “true miracle” and it did get the job done. Windows 95 was the default OS for 16 MB RAM. You could even run Windows 98 on 16 MB RAM (though it would’ve helped if you had at least 32 MB RAM for that).

  2. xoFoxtail - 8 years ago

    What is that red wire thing that keeps moving?

    • xoFoxtail - 8 years ago

      Why can’t I edit comments? Is it a air thing to keep the watch from overheating?

      • gshenaut - 8 years ago

        It looks to me as if it is triggering frame captures. Much of the video is time lapse: when they say it doesn’t run as fast as native mode, they aren’t kidding! It looks like a shell script is interpreting each individual i86 instruction: hours to boot, many minutes to respond to a virtual mouse movement or click.

    • brammahh - 8 years ago

      It’s a little motor rotating the Digital Crown. But why should the Digital Crown be rotated..

    • 89p13 - 8 years ago

      Since it appears to be mounted over the AppleWatch Crown, it may be turned to keep the screen active for the stop action video?

      • xoFoxtail - 8 years ago

        Yep that’s it. I read another article about it, that’s how they kept the screen from turning off.

    • Paul S. (@KpKomedy51) - 8 years ago

      It presses the digital crown to prevent the Apple Watch from falling asleep

  3. Howie Isaacks - 8 years ago

    Why?

    • edenk121d - 8 years ago

      Why Not?

    • 89p13 - 8 years ago

      Excess Time On Their Hands?

      First (and, last) To Say He Did It?

      Owns MS Stock and Looking For A Breakthrough To Cause The MS Stock To Rise – And SELL, SELL, SELL?

      Thinks Bill Gates Was A Genius – And Tryng To Show He Was As Smart As Steve?

      Just Enjoys A Challenge?

      YMMV ;)

  4. end times

  5. Bill Sempf (@sempf) - 8 years ago

    “When Windows 95 was new, nobody was thinking of tablets or touchscreen iPhones apart from in sci-fi movies. ”

    I’m guessing the author is … young. I used an Apple Newton as my calendar and contact list a full year before Windows 95 was available.

  6. PhilBoogie - 8 years ago

    “Lee says it takes about an hour for the device to boot into a usable state.”

    That seems pretty normal for W95, though it wasn’t very usable after it finished booting up.

  7. Rich Davis (@RichDavis9) - 8 years ago

    While it runs Windows 95, it’s still highly unusable for a day to day OS install. Why can’t people just use the product the way it came from the factory? I think the guy has way too much time on his hands.

  8. roncron - 8 years ago

    Finally, Apple Watch can do something useful!

    Now if they could only figure out how to get Apple Watch to run Windows Vista.

  9. drtyrell969 - 8 years ago

    And suddenly it was better!

  10. Leif Paul Ashley - 8 years ago

    Must have been a slow weekend… wonder how long until it got a GPF blue screen crash? :)

  11. Eduardo Antonini - 8 years ago

    Oh please. That’s easy. I want to see OS X running on a Moto 360 ;)

    *joke*

  12. b9bot - 8 years ago

    Waste of time. Then it got a virus and crashed like all windows machines.

  13. andrewtanyk - 8 years ago

    If you are so bored about your watch, give me your apple watch please. :)

Author

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Benjamin Mayo

Benjamin develops iOS apps professionally and covers Apple news and rumors for 9to5Mac. Listen to Benjamin, every week, on the Happy Hour podcast. Check out his personal blog. Message Benjamin over email or Twitter.