Chain of Fools 2017 - Every windows version upgraded through
TheRasteriCited 4× on HN, 2017–2021
demo · general · 2017–2021 on HN
TheRasteri upgrades a single PC through every Windows version, from early releases through Windows 10, testing that old software keeps running. It is an updated version of the Chain of Fools experiment.
HN cites it as a demonstration of Windows' long backwards compatibility.
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4 comments from Hacker News
Windows 1 to Windows 7: link (set colour schemes disappear at XP, but programs continue to work) Follow up - Windows 1 to Windows 10: ▶ this video
> Apple neither forces OS updates, nor forces app updates In practice they do. I recently deleted a timelapse app from my new phone (se) because the app wouldn't work with the new update. That may not be the best airtight example as the new OS update I did 'choose' to upgrade to which did somehow break the app, and the creator didn't release an updated version for the new OS, but in a real world scenario are you going to discontinue OS updates on a device you purchased months earlier for a few apps? Meanwhile there's decade old computers running windows xp that have no problems starting photoshop 7.0. There's also this video: ▶ this video showing Windows upgrades from earliest versions to newest and software like excel being compatible from earliest versions onward.
It's a similar story with Windows, due to continuous backwards compatibility as demonstrated in videos such as: ▶ this video
The article is not coming up for me, but here's Google's cache: link a direct link to the video: ▶ this video and a link to the original 2011 experiment: link