15 Retro computing emulators that run online! Relive the early days of computing in your browser (but do remember to pause to eat and sleep).
My 'ZX81 Classic PC' video (and in this title I was using the term 'PC' in its general sense!) is here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM_d37vMtEA
And I also have a video on DOSBox Retro gaming here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMe4O5WhtJQ
The full list of online emulators and associated websites shown in this video is as follows:
PCjs Machines: https://www.pcjs.org/
Windows 1.0 (1985): https://www.pcjs.org/software/pcx86/sys/windows/1.00/
Space Invaders (1978): https://www.pcjs.org/machines/arcade/invaders/
VisiCalc spreadsheet (1981): https://www.pcjs.org/software/pcx86/app/other/visicalc/1981/
CP/M-86 (1983): https://www.pcjs.org/software/pcx86/sys/cpm/1.1b/
Windows 3.1 (1992): https://www.pcjs.org/software/pcx86/sys/windows/3.10/
Windows 95 (1995): https://www.pcjs.org/software/pcx86/sys/windows/win95/4.00.950/
Infinite Mac project: https://blog.persistent.info/2022/03/blog-post.html
Mac OS 8 (1997): https://macos8.app/
Mac System 7 (1995): https://system7.app/
Mac OS 9: (1999) https://macos9.app/
VIC-20 (1980 as test in Japan, 1981 Europe/US): https://www.mdawson.net/vic20chrome/vic20.php
Commodore 64 (1982): https://c64emulator.111mb.de/
Atari ST (1985): https://jamesfriend.com.au/pce-js/atari-st/
ZX81 (1981, as T/S 1000 in 1982): http://www.zx81stuff.org.uk/zx81/jtyone.html
ZX Spectrum (1982): https://jsspeccy.zxdemo.org/
JSSpeccy 3 GitHub: https://github.com/gasman/jsspeccy3
For additional ExplainingComputers videos and other content, you can become a channel member here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbiGcwDWZjz05njNPrJU7jA/join
More videos on computing and related topics can be found at:
http://www.youtube.com/@explainingcomputers
You may also like my ExplainingTheFuture channel at: http://www.youtube.com/@explainingthefuture
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:49 Windows 1.0
04:29 Mac OS 8
07:11 1980s Home Microcomputers
07:54 Commodore 64
08:47 Atari ST
10:29 ZX81 (T/S 1000)
13:40 ZX Spectrum
16:48 Wrap
#RetroComputing #OnlineEmulator #explainingcomputers
Are there still plans for doing a video about the Amiga?
@orvilleclisby6748 Says:
Windows has never been quite the same since 1.0, a shame...
@cosmicavatar773 Says:
Nice content and channel I just subscribed. Im looking forward to checking out your past content. Since your doing a video on emulation you should do an update video on some of the other emulators that emulate old computers at a bios and hardware level. Two of the best ones are PCem and 86Box im sure your familiar with them?
@DougDobak Says:
Wow, ZX81 was my first computer and I had forgotten about using Windows 1.0! Those were some fascinating times, when computers were not household appliances. Thank you for sharing.
@laikesagores3258 Says:
A question out of this subject. Where could someone buy the Weitek 4167 FPU?
@jomirife Says:
I loved it
@mihailvormittag6211 Says:
👍
@NoelGutierrezA Says:
Wow, very fun! Nice video
@JuanCarlosMartins1968 Says:
Amazing!
Lovely memories... those days the graphics accelerators where our own mind and imagination, for sure.
@eranfeit Says:
Wow, Back to the 80's as a kid.
I would like to share this playlist , which demonstrate how to merge between 80's Atari 2600 games and new AI tech :)
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdkryDe59y4YaA2ZvUlF54g1U0J2BXkT9
Enjoy
Eran
@Harzach-Hardcastle7685 Says:
This is superb! As far as I can tell, the emulation here is near-perfect, if not perfect.
@TheSudsy Says:
Great stuff. As an early Amiga (A1000) adopter in 86 seeing windows 1.0, ( i have never seen this) i would have PMSL back in 86. Also TOS, never seen this, better than Windoze but again good job the Atari fans kept a low profile as they would have gotten a wedgie for being a T*****, lol. The C64 had better GUI than them But fair to say Windoze has improved a lot. I remember using 3.11 in work and thinking this is pants but the monitor is great.
@jgurtz Says:
I, for one, would love to see you do an Amiga video. I always wanted one, but they were much too expensive for our family at that time. I remember in the early 90s, the art department in High School had 2 or 3 of them for doing some kind of digital illustration work. Never got to take that class and so never got to use one :(
@yannisgk Says:
great video!!!thank you sir!!!
@peterbreis5407 Says:
Wow! I booted up Mac System 9 and looked in Games and there was Strategic Conquest! I haven't played that in years.
@PeterMaddison2483 Says:
If you're interested, the guy who had a hand in helping create Windows was Dave Plummer (https://www.youtube.com/@DavesGarage).
@AK-vx4dy Says:
Pity i can't say i started on ZX81, but it was first my own computer, before then i can only wander by my richer firends, neighbours and cousins houses and machines or somtimes in schools hobby meetings...
So much memories....
@paulfrayne6519 Says:
😊
@32_bits Says:
I find nostalgia isn't what it used to be
@ethzero Says:
Anyone know if there's an online emulator for the greatest OS of all time: Temple OS?
@KarlBate Says:
Still maintain Amiga 4000 and Atari STEs for a few clients who use them for audio and some older CAM systems. The adage of don't fix what works is still in operation.
@blender_wiki Says:
Many milestone of my old man life. I used almost all of this vintage systems.
@Jah_Rastafari_ORIG Says:
Not to be a killjoy, but I was hoping there would be emulators representing all the various flavors of UNIX from the 80s and 90s that I used to work with; especially NextStep, Solaris, IRIX. I was especially hoping for the others I never DID get to play with like SCO, HP/UX, AIX, etc. In case I missed something Googling, feel free to correct me...
@zilog1 Says:
Nice thumnnail
@hasansalim1868 Says:
Hello Chris. For one moment I thought you are going to play solitaire on one of these computer emulators 😀
@MacCrafter707 Says:
Takes me back to using windows 1.x when I was a soldier in logistics in the US Army. Fun times.
@kietero Says:
This has got to be the most epic and greatest "hands on" virtual museum collection out there. It's beautiful for both education and fun. Great finds!
@iskandartaib Says:
Heh... I wonder if there's a Mac OS 1 emulator that did what the original did - freeze solid as soon as it ran out of RAM. In the middle of your important document.
@utahcurt2750 Says:
Hello Chris,
I’m a longtime subscriber to your cannel, and enjoy your presentations very much.
I was a longtime Mainframe software developer using IBM’s Z-OS, ForTran4,COBOL, and DB2.
I have built my own PC’s for the last 30 years, and have seen a lot of changes with Mother Boards, RAM and CPU’s. All of which have been beneficial. They made PC hardware easier to set up, and to modify to meet the application requirements.
But, I can say the same thing about PC operating systems; I think You know to whom I’m referring.
Would, you kindly consider doing a video for the U-tube channel on ‘Window 11 and Secure Boot’. Is it hardware or software or both?
I have a 2 year old ASUS motherboard, which has Secure Boot on the mother board, and I have enabled it in the UEFI, but the Window’s Health Check program says it’s not active at all. So, ASUS support says its fine, but ‘MS’ says it not. Window 10 Pro works OK, so I not going to 11 until 2025 anyway. But I can’t be the only one with this problem, i.e. I don’t want to buy a new computer in order to get the newest version of MS Windows.
Again, thanks for all you hard work!
Curt
@woahnelly42 Says:
I love this so much! Big yes to an Amiga video. Hope you'll take a closer look.
@Lion_McLionhead Says:
A Mac emulator used to be $300. There's never going to be an emulator for the modern Mac OS. They've locked down the DRM good.
@stacycentral Says:
Brings back memories. Why would I ever need 4 meg's of RAM? I'm leaving to play some Commander Keene
@ExpressoMechanicTV Says:
Fond memories. Still have my Vic 20 (in its original packaging). The ZX81 was my first machine and we also had a Spectrum, on which many hours were spent playing Manic Miner and the brilliant, Atic Atac.
@miriamramstudio3982 Says:
Great video. Thanks
@DrinkingStar Says:
I forgot to add my first experience with a computer. Either in late 1968 or early 1969, I had a student of mine write program code
using the Math Department's computer. The computer was to analyze data that would be used in my first thesis for a Master's Degree which I received in 1969. The program included the formula for "Analysis of Covariance" and the data gathered from my research for my thesis. The computer had "2 K" of memory. Yes, that was 2K and not an error on my part(LOL). The input terminal was in 1 room while the computer was in another room that was kept cool. The program code was outputted on punch tape that was manually fed into the computer. The computer was the size of a large refrigerator/freezer combo. It also that little lights that flashed as the computer was working. BTW, on the first trip to the moon in 1969, the astronauts had aboard with them 2 computers each of which had 64 K of memory.
@DrinkingStar Says:
I too had Atari computers: 8-bit 800XL and 130XE. I also had the 16-bit Mega STe 1040. I wrote a number of programs using Atari and HiSoft basic. One program I wrote was used to analyze data for my Master's Degree in Human Nutrition. Atari was ahead of time in terms of computing power based on the cost of the machines. It ran rings around comparable Apple and Mac PCs. Unfortunately, Atari was considered a "game" machine and not a serious PC. Also contributing to its demise, Atari was unable to keep up with the competition in terms of product development as the internet developed and became popular among PC users. As a result if I wanted to use the internet, I had to get a Windows PC to replace my Atari. My first Windows PC was the Windows 98 PC.
BTW, I had an article based on the program code I wrote for my thesis published in an Atari magazine in England back in the late 1990s or early 2000s.
@robertomaximilianosilveira8768 Says:
Wow all this on web pages costs fortunes back in the day
@martinwilkinson2344 Says:
What fun!
@lingux_yt Says:
the winky face was amazing 😂
great video! we can feel the care you have for those old machines
@gam85191 Says:
Wow! This is amazing!
@Datan0de Says:
My very first computer was a Timex Sinclair ZX-80. Seeing you use the single key shortcuts brought back a lot of happy memories!
I still have the computer. Someday I'll get it working again.
@adfs5463 Says:
Windows 1.0 Premiere Edition isn't the earliest version of Windows.
The earlist version is Windows 1.0 Developer Release 5. released in 1984.
@Browntop2007 Says:
Thanks Chris, yet another brilliant video. This one was especially interesting for me as I bought my first computer (a Commodore 64) in 1983 and advanced to an Amiga 1500 in 1991. I still have both the machines but they have been stored away for several years now. Finally I succumbed to the PC world in 1999. Great to see that we can enjoy the early days of computing through these emulators !
@chriholt Says:
Well, that was a lot of fun. I can see that I will be wasting a LOT of time on these!
@pc-doctor1416 Says:
Absolutely Brilliant. I especially like the old Mac emulators. Takes me back to my early Apple days. Thank you
@dovix Says:
Now that's a sight for sore eyes
@phrtao Says:
I remember all these old computers. The great fun of emulators is using computers that I never used back then and playing the games that I never played.
@wojtasdezk Says:
It's never boring story 😉 Thanks for retro-journey, I remember most of these computers and op. systems and I have some of them (still working) 🤩Happy new Year!
@mbernardi1961 Says:
I was sad / surprised that you didn't include a BBC micro, or any of the Amstrad models. The former being found in schools and universities around the country, the latter in homes that didn't have a Sinclair (though since Amstrad bought the spectrum IP I guess there wasn't a diffference).
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