Will ReactOS native support protected mode 16-bit programs?

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Cyber Toon
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Joined: Thu Mar 14, 2013 8:59 pm

Will ReactOS native support protected mode 16-bit programs?

Post by Cyber Toon »

Will ReactOS natively support protected mode 16-bit programs, like wine does? Or will you re-create an entire Win16 subsystem inside of ntvdm? When I try running CHIPS.EXE, a windows 3.1 program, it says WOW16 programs are not supported by NTVDM internally, and then the system moves really slow.
PurpleGurl
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Re: Will ReactOS native support protected mode 16-bit progra

Post by PurpleGurl »

It will likely be recreated from what I've seen. Yes, the NTVDM is likely slow for now since it is an interpreter emulator. Maybe dynamic recompiling can be applied later.

For certain operations, we could do what Windows does and intercept the 16-bit version and replace with an internal 32-bit version. That is done with installers, where there are 16-bit installers for programs that are 32-bit or otherwise compatible.
ctasan
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Re: Will ReactOS native support protected mode 16-bit progra

Post by ctasan »

Yes, support for Windows 3.11 apps (or 16-bit apps) will be implemented, but no news for now.
ReactOS Community Changelogs | Admin of ReactOS Official Twitter Account | Admin of ReactOS Turkish Twitter Account @reactos_tr
Rosh
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Joined: Thu May 03, 2018 12:44 am

Re: Will ReactOS native support protected mode 16-bit progra

Post by Rosh »

PurpleGurl wrote:For certain operations, we could do what Windows does and intercept the 16-bit version and replace with an internal 32-bit version. That is done with installers, where there are 16-bit installers for programs that are 32-bit or otherwise compatible.
Here there is a link with files that are mainly to aid in the installation of software with 16-bit launchers under ReactOS.
http://toastytech.com/files/setup.html

And a test with "INCOMING Lux-et robur" setup : https://jira.reactos.org/browse/CORE-14207
middings
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Location: California, USA

Re: Will ReactOS native support protected mode 16-bit progra

Post by middings »

The current design goal for ReactOS is to support all the functionality of 32-bit Microsoft Windows Server 2003.

On a related topic:
"If there is no 16-bit emulation layer in 64-bit Windows, how come certain 16-bit installers are allowed to run?" by Raymond Chen - MSFT, <i>The Old New Thing</i> (blog), October 31, 2013
Rosh
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Re: Will ReactOS native support protected mode 16-bit progra

Post by Rosh »

Could WINE 16 bit system be implemented in ReactOS (even if it is old WINE like serie 1.x that have real 16 execution, that was discontiued in 2.x serie) ?
erkinalp
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Location: Izmir, TR

protected mode 16-bit programs like wine

Post by erkinalp »

Yes, but it is low priority.
-uses Ubuntu+GNOME 3 GNU/Linux
-likes Free (as in freedom) and Open Source Detergents
-favors open source of Windows 10 under GPL2
Aeneas
Posts: 504
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2009 10:09 pm

Re: Will ReactOS native support protected mode 16-bit programs?

Post by Aeneas »

I say, "drop it". It is 2018. Unless this shall become "Retro OS" (then by all means, go for it!)...
Quim
Posts: 257
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2018 11:45 pm

Re: Will ReactOS native support protected mode 16-bit programs?

Post by Quim »

Aeneas wrote: Fri Jul 06, 2018 12:08 pm I say, "drop it". It is 2018. Unless this shall become "Retro OS" (then by all means, go for it!)...
And how do you expect If someone wants or even needs to run old 16bit applications in ReactOS?
WINE has 16bits support.

Unless if there is an Open Source compatibility layer that makes that possible, that be tested and eventually add to RApps, and be installed by who needs to run 16bits applications on ReactOS.
Last edited by Quim on Thu Jul 12, 2018 1:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
Quim
Posts: 257
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2018 11:45 pm

Re: Will ReactOS native support protected mode 16-bit programs?

Post by Quim »

There is Win3mu still in development... We hope that it will be part of ReactOS ecosystem when it will be released....

https://www.toptensoftware.com/win3mu/
So I'm planning to hand it over to the open source community in the hope someone might take an interest in it and continue to develop it.
https://bitbucket.org/toptensoftware/win3mu
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