The manuscripts don't burn. But, apparently, lines of code are not really manuscripts. Most of the game hits of twenty years ago or the programs that once thundered all over the world, now no one will remember.
Many of them had no less importance on the development of computers than Pushkin's poems on the development of Russian poetry. And the enthusiasm caused a little less. But after a couple of decades, all these programs were thrown into the dustbin of history. If you can remove a volume of Pushkin from the shelf at any time (or, in extreme cases, buy it in the first bookstore you come across), then with old programs everything is not so simple. You can't even dream of any modern reprints, white paper and hardcover – the most you can count on is a handwritten stack of yellowed paper, where you can make out the text not on the first try. Since then, hardware and software have changed so much that even just running old applications on modern PCs is no longer possible, you need to conjure with special emulators, compatibility modes and other things. In theory, there is nothing super complicated here. In practice, the majority would never think of doing all this.
Over the past decades, gaming standards have changed much more than the Russian language since the time of Pushkin. And it's not just about graphics, 3D game engines or the power of artificial intelligence – game genres and gameplay have changed. However, history often goes in circles, and nowadays, pixel graphics, isometric RPGs and other games in the style of the 'old school' are in vogue. And this applies to the interface and design of programs to the same extent – just look at the same Windows 10 and compare it with Windows 7 or Windows Vista. Laconic design, 'flat' interface elements, solid colors – for modern users this is a completely innovative and unusual concept, but for those who remember versions Windows before XP, it is more of a return to the origins.
And here is the time to remember the existence of such a resource as the Internet Archive. Or rather – its section with software, since the other day Roskomnadzor once again removed it from the list of prohibited resources.
There are several thousand DOS and Windows 3.1 applications collected here, and all of them can be run directly in the browser. In addition to a bunch of legendary games and applications, here you can also find Windows 3.1 1992 release with a set of native programs.
This section of the Internet Archive is sometimes referred to as 'DOSBox for the Lazy', and technically it is. Ideologically, this is not so much a web version of the emulator as a library of old games and programs, each of which is available literally 'in one click'.
She will give someone a chance to get acquainted with the classics, someone will allow them to spend a couple of hours playing the 'same' game from a long forgotten childhood. Now, after God knows how many years I was able to pass the Dangerous Dave level, for which I did not have enough time during my school years, it turned out funny. And I also remembered at least a couple of games for the sake of which it is really worth installing a normal emulator – at least to compare old and new impressions of the once beloved toy.