Modder ports Windows CE to the Nintendo 64 in a sophisticated retro hack

Developer and DIY modder Throaty Mumbo spent months refining an idea that started as a simple observation regarding shared hardware. He pondered how an old IBM Workpad Z50 laptop uses a MIPS processor, much like the Nintendo 64. His old IBM Workpad ran Windows CE without any trouble. So, Mumbo wondered what would happen if they tried to run Windows CE on the Nintendo 64.

However, it wasn’t an easy feat, to say the least. Windows CE version 2.11 finally made its way to the Nintendo 64 after rounds of tinkering, with no compromises or shortcuts. Mumbo explained in his GitHub repo, “This is a hobby reverse-engineering project; there is no official CE 2.11 port to the N64 from Microsoft.”

He further explained that the Windows CE 2.11 Nintendo 64 project was pretty much “the ultimate challenge that nobody asked for – Windows CE on the N64! Can it be done? Probably. Should it be done? No, absolutely not.”

So, how did he manage to get Windows CE 2.11 running on Nintendo’s retro home console, the Nintendo 64? He started with Microsoft’s official late-1990s Platform Builder tools and then wrote every custom driver himself to handle the N64’s quirks. The display was output using the console’s RDP graphics for acceleration, controller inputs were reconfigured to mouse controls, and sound was routed through the N64’s built-in audio hardware. As for the core Windows kernel, it was ported as-is.

He used an EverDrive 64 X7 cartridge that loads a roughly 3.5 MB ROM called N64C4.Z64. It’s pretty much plug-and-play at this point. All you have to do is power on the console, load a tiny bootloader, and load into Windows. Within mere seconds, you’re in a full desktop environment, complete with a taskbar, Start menu, Recycle Bin, and more.

The regular N64 controller works as a mouse, with A for left-click and B for right-click, while an official N64 mouse works even more smoothly for precise pointing. And if you’re wondering whether you can install apps, just pop in an SD card containing Windows CE programs, and you’re good to go.

The video also features a spinning Cube3D demo, which taps into the N64’s graphics hardware, including a port of a 1997 Tetris release that plays perfectly with its 8-bit chiptune sounds.

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