Programmer Boots Windows 1.0 on Modern Hardware with Custom Emulator

TapTechNewsJune27th,aprogrammerCharlieBirksusingPimoroniPicoVisionandalineofcustom-codedemulators,successfullybootedWindows1.0onmoderncomputinghardware.

TapTechNewsnote:PimoroniPicoVisionisanaffordabledevicethatincludesaRaspberryPiPicoWwithanadditionalRP2040SoConit'sbackside.

Withthisconfiguration,theRP2040thatcomeswiththeRaspberryPiPicoWisusedastheCPUandprovidesWi-Fiaccess,whilethesecondRP2040actsastheGPUofthedevelopmentboard.

BirkscustomizedaPCemulator,ProbablyAverageComputerEmulator,abbreviatedasPACE,tomakeitrunonPicoVisionandbasicallysimulatingacomplete8088CPUcore.

ThePACEemulatoralsoprovidesbasicsupportforchipsetssuchastheperipheralinterfacecontroller,theprogrammableinterrupttimer,andtheprogrammableperipheralinterface.Thissystemhasbuilt-inCGAgraphicsupport,partialfloppydiskcontroller support, andiscompatiblewithharddisks.

BirkshasrealizedkeyboardsupportviaUSBHID,butthereisnootherinputyet.

Windows1.0isthefirstmajorversionofMicrosoftWindows,butitisnotanoperatingsystemitself,butagraphicalapplicationenvironmentbasedontheMS-DOSkernel.ItwasfirstreleasedintheUnitedStatesonNovember20,1985,whiletheEuropeanversionwasreleasedinMay1986intheformofWindows1.02.

Relatedreading:

40yearsagotoday,MicrosoftWindows1.0operatingsystemwasfirstdisplayedtothepublic.

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