steptail.com

If I try to fail, but succeed, which one did I do?

User Tools

Site Tools


guides:running_classic_web_browsers

This is an old revision of the document!


Classic Web Browsers on Modern Hardware

This document details the steps needed to make older web browsers run on modern computers.

Classic browsers on Windows 10

Windows 10 will run surprisingly old software as long as you're running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of the application. There are some quirks that need to be taken into account to make old web browsers run or install properly on Windows 10. This becomes sometimes apparent when trying to run 16-bit Windows software designed for Windows 3.x. Any 16-bit software will function in a 64-bit copy of Windows 10, however software compiled for 32-bit will usually work, with some tweaking. Many early web browsers had 32-bit versions available.

Netscape 0.92 running on Windows 10 version 1909

How to run old versions of Netscape Navigator

I've noticed that 32-bit edition of Netscape will not install on 64-bit edition of Windows 10. This is because the installer of the 32-bit browser is 16-bit, and 64-bit version of Windows 10 only supports running 32 and 64-bit executables. To run Netscape 3.0, you'll need to install the software on a 32-bit Windows system to extract the files. Once you've installed the browser, you can copy it's binaries anywhere on a 64-bit Windows 10 computer and run them from there.

  • For your convenience, I've created a preinstalled portable packages that will run directly in Windows 10 without an installation. You may unzip anywhere, and add a shortcut to the executable on your desktop.
Netscape Navigator 0.92
(portable, 32-bit)
netscape_navigator_0.92_32-bit.zip 308K Unzip to a directory of your liking and run the executable.
Netscape Navigator 3.04 Gold
(portable, 32-bit)
netscape_navigator_3.04_gold_32-bit.zip 1941K Unzip to a directory of your liking and run the executable.
Netscape Navigator 3.04 Gold
(32-bit)
g32d304p.zip 5547K Original installer package. Note: only works in 32-bit editions of Windows.
guides/running_classic_web_browsers.1598655177.txt.gz · Last modified: 2020-08-28 22:52 by omolini