Desktop - Linux - Yes, likely. If not, here’s a flatpak
Desktop - Windows - Maybe it still runs in a compatibility mode?
Desktop - iMac - Here’s an emulator, good luck.
Mobile - PostMarketOS - Yes, likely. If not, here’s a flatpak
Mobile - Android - Maybe? Try it and see if you get permission denial
Mobile - iPhone - Fuck you, no.
Windows is pretty good with backwards compatibility, probably the best out of anything. I can run Visual Basic apps I wrote in the early 2000s on Windows 11 and they still run fine. Some old 32-bit games work fine too. You can even run some 16-bit apps on 32-bit Windows 10 if you manually install NTVDM through the Windows features (it was never ported to 64-bit though)
Linux is okay for backcompat but I’m not sure an app I compiled 20 years ago would still run today.
The fact that a compat mode exists means that Microsoft put effort into backwards compatibility. Windows even emulates some old bugs for old popular apps that depended on them.
I don’t like Microsoft Windows at all, but you are absolutely right about doing a good job with backwards compatibility.
Linux isn’t so backwards compatible, but with much of it having open source code, you can often compile it again yourself—tho having been written in a language that offers good backwards compatibility also helps.
Desktop - Linux - Yes, likely. If not, here’s a flatpak
Desktop - Windows - Maybe it still runs in a compatibility mode?
Desktop - iMac - Here’s an emulator, good luck.
Mobile - PostMarketOS - Yes, likely. If not, here’s a flatpak
Mobile - Android - Maybe? Try it and see if you get permission denial
Mobile - iPhone - Fuck you, no.
Wait, flatpak works on PostMarketOS?
Yep! It’s the default on things like phosh and gnome mobile for packaging apps
Windows is pretty good with backwards compatibility, probably the best out of anything. I can run Visual Basic apps I wrote in the early 2000s on Windows 11 and they still run fine. Some old 32-bit games work fine too. You can even run some 16-bit apps on 32-bit Windows 10 if you manually install NTVDM through the Windows features (it was never ported to 64-bit though)
Linux is okay for backcompat but I’m not sure an app I compiled 20 years ago would still run today.
Tell that to video games, which constantly need a compat mode enabled
The fact that a compat mode exists means that Microsoft put effort into backwards compatibility. Windows even emulates some old bugs for old popular apps that depended on them.
I don’t like Microsoft Windows at all, but you are absolutely right about doing a good job with backwards compatibility.
Linux isn’t so backwards compatible, but with much of it having open source code, you can often compile it again yourself—tho having been written in a language that offers good backwards compatibility also helps.