Nintendo 3DS Emulates Windows 95 with DOSBox — Booting Takes Hours

A tech enthusiast recently embarked on a quirky project involving a Nintendo 3DS to see if it could handle running Windows 95. This brave endeavor was tackled using the upgraded “New” 3DS, which boasts more RAM and processing power than its predecessor. TechTuber MetraByte accepted the challenge, successfully installing a DOSBox port to act as a foundation and then loading Windows 95 onto it. As you might imagine, this wasn’t a speedy affair. The initial boot took so long that MetraByte gave up waiting and let the device sit overnight. Meanwhile, installing the operating system itself was relatively quick, clocking in at about five minutes. However, even after the OS was up and running, getting mouse support to work through DOSBox’s touch input proved challenging and wasn’t operational until well after Windows had loaded.

Despite these hurdles, windows did indeed run on the New Nintendo 3DS. This makes sense when you consider that Windows 95 was designed to run on machines with just 4MB of RAM, even if those were x86 systems and didn’t require emulation. By comparison, the 3DS’s 256MB of RAM seems generous for software from that era, though pretty tiny by today’s standards. The primary issue lies in emulating the x86 architecture on the Arm-based hardware of the 3DS, which severely impacts performance.

In theory, it’s possible to get Windows 95 to run on this handheld, but practically, there’s little incentive to do so. The setup is time-consuming and taxing, and even with the OS launched, it barely functions. MetraByte’s attempts to play basic MIDI audio files failed, and his music software tests resulted in a blue screen. While other lightweight programs could perhaps operate, the system’s overall usability is severely limited.

For those interested in working with DOSBox on the New Nintendo 3DS, sticking to classic DOS titles would be much more rewarding. The power of the New 3DS shines when it’s not bogged down emulating an entire Windows environment, so diving into simpler games or software from the DOS era can make for a far more enjoyable experience.