Windows 10 successfully runs legacy software: Office 95 spotted in action

As you probably know, Microsoft is forcing users to upgrade to Windows 11 via nag screen, citing compatibility issues and security.

Many are worried about software compatibility, but it seems that Windows is rather compatible with old software.

Windows 10 can still run 29-year-old software with no issues

First spotted by Neowin, there’s a video on Twitter showing Windows 10 running Word 7 for Windows 95. You’d expect to see some compatibility issues, but no, everything works without a hitch.

This was first discovered by Niko on Twitter and she used Microsoft Office 95 on Windows 10 Enterprise edition, build 15063. Another user, WinExperiments, shared the video of this in action.

So how is this done? According to WinExperiments, 32-bit Office 2021 was installed on the computer, followed by Office 95, without Excel.

It seems that Microsoft is still using the same API calls, which allows the software to work. While this works, it doesn’t mean that every legacy software will be compatible.

We have to notice that in this case Office 95 probably relies on libraries from Office 2021 to work properly, and it won’t work on its own.

Nevertheless, it’s great to see that older software is still able to run with some tweaks. However, Microsoft Office 2024 is coming, and it doesn’t require any tweaks, so it’s a superior choice for everyday use.