{"id":1961,"date":"2013-03-18T21:51:09","date_gmt":"2013-03-19T03:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gratuitousscience.com\/?p=1961"},"modified":"2013-03-21T12:30:05","modified_gmt":"2013-03-21T18:30:05","slug":"my-current-favourite-os","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gratuitousscience.com\/?p=1961","title":{"rendered":"My current favourite OS"},"content":{"rendered":"

I like to try out different operating systems.\u00a0 This is mainly because I am a geek.\u00a0 I like to see what some group of developers has done with a kernel and a desktop environment and a software ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Linux is a good example of this.\u00a0 I should actually say GNU-Linux.\u00a0 Technically (those of you who have heard the spiel can skip to the next paragraph) Linux is just the kernel.\u00a0 Most of the applications and other software that get bundled together to form a usable operating system are part of the GNU project.<\/p>\n

Okay, now that I’ve made Richard Stallman’s birthday celebrations that much more groovy, I’m going to shock all my Linux pals and cohorts when I reveal the identity of my current favourite OS.<\/p>\n

Windows 98.<\/p>\n

OMG!!!\u00a0 WTF!!!\u00a0 Some explanation is clearly needed.\u00a0 Please, put the pitchforks down.<\/p>\n

This is a story about how I have a half dozen or so old video games that I can’t play on my gaming PC.\u00a0 That computer runs Windows XP, and games that require a lot of DOS or 16-bit code just won’t work.<\/p>\n

I used to keep my very first PC – a vintage HP 8260 from 1998 – up and running just for such a purpose.\u00a0 I’ve written about that beast on this blog too.\u00a0 I still have the thing… I can’t bear to get rid of it.\u00a0 And it still works, and I still have Windows 98 and (now) Lubuntu installed on it.<\/p>\n

But it’s not set up, so I haven’t been able to play those old games for a while.<\/p>\n

But then I decided to try Windows 98 in VirtualBox again.\u00a0 For this, I chose my newest computer – a cheap Acer laptop I got from Walmart for $500 last year.\u00a0 Since I take good care of machines, even that flimsy shitty keyboard is still working properly.\u00a0 And it’s a decent computer with a quad core AMD processor and 6GB of RAM.<\/p>\n

I was basically only using it as my music editing computer now, and the HD has lots and lots of room to play around with VirtualBox.\u00a0 So last week I dug out my old Windows 98 Second Edition CD and created a 20 GB virtual HD to install it on.<\/p>\n

Now you may or may not be aware of this, but Windows 98 is old.\u00a0 It’s not supported any more by Microsoft in any way, shape or form, and it’s certainly not officially supported by Oracle as far as VirtualBox goes.\u00a0 So there is no “Guest Additions” software pack to install on a Windows 98 guest OS like there is for Windows XP, Vista, 7 and (I presume) 8.<\/p>\n

I will stop my verbal babble momentarily to give you three YouTube links.\u00a0 This man has recorded a thorough step-by-step process of what needs to be done to get Windows 98 installed and usable in VirtualBox.\u00a0 Some of the links he mentions don’t work, so do some Googling, and you will find the drivers and other files he’s talking about:<\/p>\n