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Apr 30, 2016

Mobile Designer Hacks Apple Watch To Run Windows 95 For Wrist-Mounted Retro Goodness

Posted by in category: cybercrime/malcode

Hotwiring your Apple watch to run Win95. My 1st question is why? Why would anyone want to work with such a dated system; and I worked many years at Microsoft and don’t understand the logic on this one. I would at least try Win 10. Granted the person states they like retro. If I want retro, I just hook up a PS2, or Wang VS.


Developer Nick Lee managed to get Windows 95 working on his Apple Watch. And Apple Watch definitely has the specs (check our full review). The watch packs in a 520 MHz processor, 512 MB of RAM, and 8GB of internal storage. Compared with Nick’s original $3,000, 300 MHz Pentium II powered PC with 256MB of RAM, the Apple Watch is practically the Computeress from Dexter’s Laboratory. There were quite a few hurdles to overcome, however, before Windows 95 was up and running.

First, Apple does not provide a direct way to install new operating systems. Apple’s WatchKit SDK also does not allow one to access user touch locations directly. Lee therefore patched files within WatchKit and loaded his own application code.

Second, Apple Watch typically hibernates when not in use. To fix this issue, Lee created a motorized tube that constantly turns the Watch’s crown and prevents the watch from falling asleep.

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