BEIJING: A hacker has successfully installed Microsoft’s Windows 98 on his iPhone 6 Plus, using a game emulator available in the App Store.
If you’re an iPhone owner already fed up of iOS 8, the most advanced version of Apple’s mobile operating system yet, there may now be an unlikely alternative.
A pro-active member has successfully installed Windows 98 onto his brand new iPhone 6. The user states that the hack was achieved using iDOS, an emulator available on the App Store, and originally developed for playing classic DOS (Disk Operating System) games on Devices.
Several blurry images on the forum appear to show the user’s black iPhone 6 Plus running Windows 98, complete with the familiar washed out turquoise desktop and classy grey window frames.
Although the nostalgic, grey tones of the 16-year-old operating system look as vibrant as ever on the iPhone 6 Plus’ screen, you might want to hold out installing for now. Most of the screenshots appear to be error messages, with touch input and a range of other factors making for a less than slick user experience.
The iPhone/Windows mutant is the latest in a long line of hacks in which classic software has been persuaded to run on increasingly modern and totally unsuitable machinery. As reported originally by the Verge, a 16 year old has been able to port classics such as Mine craft PE, Doom and Windows 95 to his Android Wear smart watch.
Phone arena also reported how another smart watch owner has installed first generation Play station games to their Android Wear device. Using a similar type of emulation software, the pioneering hacker has even posted hands on videos, with play just about possible on the smart watch’s screen.
Almost impossible to play, thanks to their small screens and touch operation, the uselessness of both pales into insignificance when compared to the case of a Cannon Pixma printer hacked to play Doom. Featuring no buttons and therefore impossible to operate, the FPS-capable printer was the result of an experiment by security expert Michael Jordon. Designed to show the increased safety risk associated with the internet of things, the installation of Doom demonstrated a now patched weakness in Canon’s printer security. iPhone owners will be pleased to know that the user who installed Windows 98 is currently working on bringing a stable installation of Windows XP to Apple’s smart phone.
