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kottke.org posts about Windows

Old Windows 3.x Games on the Internet Archive

a bunch of screenshots of old Win3.x games

Yesterday I linked to a Windows 3.x NYT crossword puzzle app from 1992 that you can play directly on the Internet Archive. I was a Windows user back in the day (my conversion to Apple didn't happen until the early 00s) and so of course I had to see what other Win3.x games they had in their collection and re-discovered a couple of old favorites:

  • The Incredible Machine. I loved this game...it was an early physics puzzler where you had to build contraptions to accomplish certain goals (like getting a ball into a hoop) with a limited selection of materials. (I just played for 20 minutes and I still love it.)
  • Tripeaks. I'd forgotten about this solitaire variant.
  • Freecell. This isn't the official Microsoft version, but it's close enough. I played Freecell much more than solitaire or Tripeaks.
  • Pipe Dream. I actually had this one on Nintendo, I think. Or maybe my neighbor did? Another fun little puzzler.
  • Minesweeper. Everyone's played this at some point.
  • Tetris. Ditto. Although I played mostly on my Game Boy.
  • Klotski. Ok this one was the biggest nostalgia bomb of all. The name sounded familiar so I clicked on it and wow, I played so much of this one and had completely forgotten all about it until I played the demo. Wow wow wow.
  • Doom. Of course.

Ok, that's enough, I need to get back to work!

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Christina's World, the Windows XP Wallpaper Version

a version of Christina's World by Andrew Wyeth done in MS Paint

Cat Graffam combined their love of art and old technology to create a mashup of Andrew Wyeth's Christina's World and the Windows XP wallpaper, using MS Paint and a mouse. You can watch how they did it in this video:

Prints of the finished product are available. (via waxy)


Real Windows 3.0 Solitaire deck of cards

Susan Kare Cards

Susan Kare, who famously designed the original icons for the Apple Macintosh, has teamed up with Areaware to offer real decks of cards with her artwork from Windows 3.0's version of Solitaire. Nice example of defictionalization. They're currently sold out but I'm hoping they restock so I can order a deck. (via subtraction)

Update: Areaware tells me that the cards aren't out of stock, they are just not in stock yet. So don't worry...they haven't sold out or anything.


Upgrading Windows, from 1.0 to 7.0

Watch as some guy upgrades his computer through every version of Windows, from 1985's Windows 1.0 to the present-day Windows 7.


Nick Tosches wonders where the desktop photo

Nick Tosches wonders where the desktop photo on his new computer was taken and it takes him a year (and several messages to the likes of Bill Gates, the editor of Vermont Life, and S.I. Newhouse) to find out.


iPhone running Parallels

The iPhone runs on OS X, right? So theoretically, shouldn't you be able to run IE for Windows XP in Parallels?

iPhone ruiing Parallels, har har


DarwiinRemote lets you use a Wii Remote

DarwiinRemote lets you use a Wii Remote as an input device for OS X. Take heart Windows users, WiinRemote is for you.


From worst to first

Lest we forget, Steven Frank reminds us that for quite a few years (which period roughly coincides with Steve Jobs' absence from Apple), the Macintosh experience wasn't all it could have been. In the midst of those dark times, I made a post about how frustrated I was with the Macintosh.

I've never seen a Mac that has run faster than its Wintel counterpart, despite the Macs' faster chip architecture. My 486/66 with 8 megs of ram runs faster than this 300 mhz machine at times. From a productivity standpoint, I don't get how people can claim that the Macintosh is a superior machine.

At my first web design job โ€” at a company that used to sell and service Macintosh computers โ€” they had Macs on all the desks. When I left a year and a half later, everyone had Dells running NT 4.0 instead; the difference in speed, stability, and price was not even close at that time. I didn't use another Mac until I bought an iBook after the second coming of Jobs and the advent of OS X.

BTW, that Mac sucks post has become something of a meme on Slashdot. It's been used to call out Java 1.4.2 fanatics, TI fanatics, SGI lava lamp fanatics, Apple laywers, Mac Mini hard drive performance, cat fanatics, Google fanatics, Amiga fanatics, Pittsburgh professors, Apple I fanatics, trolling losers, and so on.


John Gruber on Apple's Boot Camp, which

John Gruber on Apple's Boot Camp, which lets you install Windows XP on your Mac (in beta). "You now get to choose between a computer that can only run Windows or a computer that can run both Windows and Mac OS X."


Khoi Vinh reports on computer technology in

Khoi Vinh reports on computer technology in Vietnam. They're wired for broadband and Windows still dominates.