🪟 Windows 95 running on ESP32 (Tiny386 Emulator)

Tiny386 is a lightweight x86 PC emulator that transforms the low-cost 🇨🇳 ESP32-S3 microcontroller into a fully functional retro desktop computer capable of running classic operating systems like Microsoft Windows 95 and various 16- and 32-bit software. The project showcases the surprising power of modern microcontrollers when paired with efficient emulation techniques.

The features of the project:
➡️Written in C99 with only around 6,000 lines of code for the CPU emulator.
➡️Emulates an Intel i386 CPU, supporting most 16/32-bit software with added 486/586 instructions for newer OS compatibility.
➡️Runs directly on the ESP32-S3 (dual 240 MHz cores) with optional external PSRAM for memory expansion.
➡️Features include VGA graphics, Ethernet emulation, and multiple sound options (PC Speaker, AdLib OPL2, Sound Blaster 16).
➡️Incorporates SeaBIOS firmware for BIOS/VGABIOS functionality, with the option to boot Linux kernels directly.
➡️Fully open-source under the BSD 3-Clause license, with browser-based and hardware demos available.

Tiny386 impressively demonstrates how modern embedded hardware can recreate classic computing environments once reserved for full-sized PCs.

More information:
🔗 The main article
😹 The GitHub repository

#projects #esp32 #windows95 #emulator