SoftWindows 95: which Apps are working???

[Thomas W.]

Hello to all,

on my O2 i am running SoftWindows 95.





Can anybody tell me, which Windows-Apps are running on SoftWindows 95?
Is there a list on the Internet with testet Apps?
Or is every Windows Programm running under SoftWindows 95?

Questions over Questions, i know.

Thank you for your answer and greetings from Germany,
Thomas

[assyrix]

I tried running PC Suite 1.4 from Nokia to connect to my 9110 Communicator using the serial port of my Octane. The serial port emulation is iffy to say the least. No matter what emulation mode I tried I couldn't get a stable connection - data transfer never worked. I have since removed it from my machine.

If you really need a PC environment on Irix and don't want to use a real PC via VNC then give the latest builds of Bochs a try. Quite a nice x86 emulator all the way up to Pentium and you can install any x86 OS you like.

[dexter1]

I believe Internet Explorer 5.01 was the latest native IE running on SoftWindows 95. And someone had windows98 running, i don't know if this was a hack to SoftWindows.

[DaJuice]

Is it just me or is it kinda creepy seeing windows on an irix box?

[Thomas W.]

My first thought was: FUNNY!!! Windows on a REAL COMPUTER!!!

I don't want serious work with it.
I only want to run some Windows Apps on my O2 which are not available for/under IRIX.

It is a little bit like running STEmulator (Atari ST Emulator) on my PC.

[Rev.Bubba]

BLASPHEMY!!!

[canavan]

I tried running PC Suite 1.4 from Nokia to connect to my 9110 Communicator using the serial port of my Octane. The serial port emulation is iffy to say the least. No matter what emulation mode I tried I couldn't get a stable connection - data transfer never worked. I have since removed it from my machine.

If you really need a PC environment on Irix and don't want to use a real PC via VNC then give the latest builds of Bochs a try. Quite a nice x86 emulator all the way up to Pentium and you can install any x86 OS you like.

While bochs is a nice emulator, it's slow as hell compared to Softwindows. My experience with the serial port support of softwindows is quite the opposite of yours - for me, an application that i couldn't get to function on my dell notebook worked in softwindows without problems (although much slower than on a real PC).

[squeen]

I also have found SoftWindow to be much faster than bochs. Also, I was unable to solve all the device sharing issues in bochs (drives, network etc.).

Unfortunately with SoftWindows 95, I haven't been able to upgrade the version of IE on it -- so it doesn't end up solving alot of the windoze only connectivity issues I potentially need it for.

I have loaded Office 97 on it, and it worked.

Couldn't get Netzero to co-operate due to some silly IE driver.

AutoCAD 13 was quirky.

By far, the best solution for me to date has been using rdesktop to a PC laptop running Windows Terminal Server 2000. (That and finding out that there are better (IRIX) ways to doing all of my daily computing!)

[Shtoink]

That was actually me that was trying to get 98 installed on Softwindows95. All my attempts were very unsuccessful, though. I got tired of the waiting during the upgrade process. and the major problem i had was it running out of room during the install process. No matter how much I tried, it was alwys the same failure. It did make for some interesting screenshots...

[necron2600]

Whats working in SoftWindows 95?
I have a large collection of old games and apps media, many with original boxes.. so I was able to test various apps and games in SoftWindows 95 on IRIX. This type of test is not the same as testing apps in Qemu/Bochs, BasiliskII(macos), UAE(amiga)..etc.. as SoftWindows95 has a specific configuration of Win95.. an older DirectX support, etc, and there is less full 100% 'emulation' going on (there are custom drivers involved, etc..).

First off.. most, if not all, Windows 3.x games and apps should work fine in SoftWindows95. Many DOS games and apps do work too.
A majority of 'windows95' games fail to work in SoftWindows95. So to document what does work should be useful to the community.

Someone on this forum (mia?) has gotten Linux running in SoftWindows 95.. I would like to know more about that!

Disclaimer: I only tested installation and brief startup. SW95 does crash sometimes.. make backup copies of your hdf (virtual hard disk files) and restore them after a crash.. sometimes the C drive can get messed up after a crash. While the max size of 500MB drives in SW95 are small, you can shuffle multiple drives around and boot with a different D: drive.. maybe 1 for apps and 1 for games, etc..
I found setting the MaxCodeBuffers environment variable to 1500, rather than a max of 3327, etc.., seems to cause less crashes (just a hunch.. no scientific testing here).
I put "export MaxCodeBuffers=1500" (without quotes) in /etc/profile (for use with bash shell)

#######################
Games that run in SoftWindows 95:
Command and Conquer Red Alert (this one runs well on a 600mhz Octane.. surprisingly it runs with the older DirectX support in SW95)
Lemmings 95
Return Fire
Exile: Escape from the Pit
Lode Runner for windows (Sierra)
Pitfall Mayan Adventure (no sound and crashes... runs too fast)
Allied General
Battle Isle 3 (needs more memory from my orig test.. so its not tested)
Virtual Valerie 2 (windows) (I did not play this.. just tested to menu screen)
Resident Evil 1 for windows looks like it would work, but it requires 16bit color.. SW95 is stuck at 256colors.
Carmaggedon (i think i got this working, ill have to check again. This game runs in win3.1 so it should be ok)
After Burner II (Sega)
AirWar
Battle Chess (Windows)
Chaos Overlords
Dune 2
Fields of Battle
Grey Wolf: Hunter of the north atlantic
Microsoft Arcade
Romance IV
Space Empires II
Sim Isle
Sim Tunes
Space Empires 3
Star Control 2
Emperor of the fading suns
Uno
Warpath
WinTrek
Yoda Stories
Afterlife
Colonization
Pinball
Romance IV
SimFarm (windows)
SimPark
SimTown
Taipan for windows
Transport Tycoon Deluxe
Vikings
Castle of the Winds
Civilization 2 (windows)
Civilization (windows)
Dune 2
SimEarth (Windows)
Ecco the Dolphin (windows)
Entomorph
Exile 3
Jumpstar
Monopoly
MS Golf 2
Outpost
Panzer General (fyi, we have an IRIX native clone with lgeneral)
Pirates Gold! for Windows
Risk (win3.1 version)
SimCity 2000 (not too fast?)
SimAnt
SimTower
AD&D Spelljammer
Tetris (windows)
Twisted Mini Golf
Uninvited (windows)
War Wind
WinPool

DOS games can work well too..
WarCraft 2 does work (600mhz Octane). Seems playable but not blazing fast as a new PC running dosbox will run it.

Applications:
ABC Flowchart
Adobe Dimensions 3.0
Adobe Stream 4
Autodesk AutoSketch Release 6
Circuit Maker 2000
Paint Shop Pro 5
Peachtree Complete Accounting 6
QuarkXpress 4.0
Ulead COOL 360
ACT! 3.0
CAD Key 19
Goldwave Audio editor 3.03
Lotus Organizer
MATLAB 4.2c
MS Project for win95 v4.1
AutoCAD R14
Adobe Premiere 4.2
Adobe Acrobat 5.0
Adobe Illustrator 8.0
Adobe Photoshop 5.0 (just note, 256colors only in SW95. Want more colors, use Basilisk with MacOS)
Adobe PageMaker 6.5
Quicken98
Quickbooks 5
utorrent 1.6
Fury 3 (runs a tab bit sluggish)
Acrobat 5
Magic ISO
Visio Pro and Technical 5.0c
WinISO
WinRAR
MS Office 4.2 Powerpoint, word, excel
pkzip

[pentium]

I can add that Deadly Rooms of Death loaded and played fine however something was horribly broken with the Sound Blaster emulation.

[necron2600]

Metal Marines works too
Its a win31 game, light war strategy game.
Ill try seeing if this runs on an old SUN Sparcstation 5 with WABI.. it seems light enough.

[necron2600]

COMMAND: Aces of the Deep (windows version) works very well too.