Nintendo 3DS Emulates Windows 95 with DOSBox — Slow Boot Time of Several Hours

A tech enthusiast recently put a homemade Nintendo 3DS port of DOSBox to an intriguing test: could it run Windows 95? TechTuber MetraByte, utilizing the enhanced “New” 3DS with its beefed-up RAM and processing capabilities, embarked on this experiment. After successfully installing the DOSBox port, he loaded Windows 95 on the system. It wasn’t a quick process—he actually let the handheld sit overnight just to get through the first boot of Windows 95. Meanwhile, the OS installation wrapped up in a mere five minutes. Unfortunately, getting proper mouse functionality via the Touch feature through DOSBox was a bit of a wait, kicking in only after the OS was operational on the device.

Now, here’s the bright side: Windows 95 does indeed operate on the New Nintendo 3DS. This makes some sense from a memory perspective, as the classic OS was originally designed to run on minimal resources, as low as 4MB of RAM, albeit for x86 systems, not in emulated environments. While the New 3DS’s 256MB of RAM seems modest by today’s standards, it’s actually quite robust when compared to the era when gigabytes of memory were unheard of. However, the challenge lies in the DOSBox having to juggle x86 emulation on the New 3DS’s ARM-based hardware, which creates a significant bottleneck.

Practically speaking, while you can indeed coax Windows 95 into running on a New Nintendo 3DS, it’s not exactly a rewarding venture. The installation process is arduous, and the resulting system is barely functional. Even something as basic as MIDI audio playback was beyond its reach when MetraByte conducted his test. Trying to run his preferred music studio software resulted in the dreaded blue screen crash. Still, the operating system did show signs of life, so perhaps very lightweight software might succeed.

For those dabbling with DOSBox on a New Nintendo 3DS, installing Windows is probably not the best path to take. Instead, consider exploring classic DOS games, which are much more likely to perform well under these conditions. The New 3DS has quite a bit of oomph for its time, and you avoid the extra burden of running Windows 95 atop everything else.