Someone squeezed Windows 95 onto an ESP32-P4, and so can you

Published Oct 8, 2026, 11:17 AM EDT Simon is a Computer Science BSc graduate who has been writing about technology since 2014, and using Windows machines since 3.1. After working for an indie game studio and acting as the family's go-to technician for all computer issues, he found his passion for writing and decided to use his skill set to write about all things tech. Since beginning his writing career, he has written for many different publications such as WorldStart, Listverse, and MakeTechEasier. However, after finding his home at MakeUseOf in February 2019, he would eventually move on to its sister site, XDA, to bring the latest and greatest in Windows, Linux, and DIY electronics. Sign in to your XDA account Summary Windows 95 boots on an ESP32-P4 via tiny386, running from microSD with a USB keyboard/mouse and a 1280×800 display It's a study project to see how small hardware can run old Windows, not meant as a daily driver Full build guide and notes on compatibility and limitations posted on GitHub. We're getting to a point where we can run old Windows OSes on increasingly smaller hardware, far tinier in terms of physical space than what Microsoft intended when it first released the software. Now, someone has managed to fit Windows 95 onto an ESP32-P4 board with the aid of tiny386. This ESP32 project fits a Windows operating system onto a microprocessor It uses a little help from tiny386 to get the job done Credit: winitboonkliang As spotted by Adafruit, this cool little project comes to us via winitboonkliang over on GitHub. They decided to see how much of Windows 95 they can squash into the microcontroller, and so far, they've done an excellent job getting the OS to run. In the intro, winitboonkliang explains how they got everything working, including the emulator they used to get the job done: A port of tiny386 (Chunhui He's x86 PC emulator) to the Guition JC8012P4A1C, a 10.1" ESP32-P4 development board. It boots Windows 95 OSR2 from a microSD card onto the board's 1280×800 MIPI-DSI panel, with USB keyboard and mouse. Winitboonkliang does note that the implementation isn't meant to be used as a daily driver. They call it a "study project," less about using Windows 95 today and more about seeing how far you can get running the OS on $22 hardware. And if you're a tinkerer, you know that doing things "just because you can" is always a valid reason. I'd even argue it's the most fun one. If you'd like to give it a go yourself, winitboonkliang was very kind and wrote up a comprehensive guide and project description over on GitHub. It covers what works, what doesn't, and all the challenges they faced getting Windows 95 on an ESP32, so give it a full read if you're curious about the nitty-gritty details.