I just got access to an MSDN business relationship with keys for various versions of Windows and Visual Studio, so.... it'due south retro time! Isn't information technology funny how something brand new comes out and we get excited, then we go annoyed with it's deficiencies, then it's forgotten when something meliorate comes out, and finally after enough time nosotros get all nostalgic and pull it out of mothballs?

With that in mind, let's cheque out the best of Windows yesteryear. But first...

Note 1: If you just demand to run something in XP with a minimum of fuss, check out the free Windows XP Mode app that runs XP inside of Windows 7. It doesn't work on Windows x hands, but there's usually a workaround.

Note 2: I won't share whatever keys or recommend where to detect them, but yous were allowed to use XP for 60 days without activating, so you could probably utilize whatsoever central you find and yous'll be proficient for a couple months. Sure, that'south annoying, only you're not seriously using this for annihilation serious are you?

You can't install service packs on 64-chip systems, so you may want to cull the 32-bit pick. If you're doing this from MSDN, select the "with Service Pack three" option to make life easier.

Requite it plenty of hard deejay space if y'all plan on installing other apps. It's a pita to resize the partition afterwards, and so requite information technology 30 or forty GB at least. XP had actually minimal requirements, so a couple gigs of memory should be more than enough.

Map a Host Machine Folder

Afterward installing XP, the beginning matter you'll detect is that Internet Explorer is atrocious and horrible and you probably can't even connect to the Internet (at to the lowest degree until you take the service packs installed). Let'southward do the very first thing anyone does when they install any version of Windows... install a real browser.

Follow the suggestions in this thread to share a folder with your host machine, or run "Devices / Insert Guest Additions CD image..." in VirtualBox (read more hither) and then go to "Devices / Shared Folders / Shared Folders Settings" and map a folder on your host machine. You might take to select "Devices / Optical Drives / Remove disk" first, simply maybe not. I mapped the "Downloads" folder, so it'll testify up every bit a drive in the VM under My Estimator.

Now you tin can download Chrome (it'll install v49, the last supported version for XP), Firefox 52.9.0esr (Mozilla'south last supported version, simply y'all'll likely have to install SP2 first), or Opera 36 (you lot go the picture) on the host motorcar, drop them in the shared folder, and install them from the VM.

Installing Service Packs

XP is ancient but nosotros might as well update information technology where nosotros tin. If you lot selected the "with Service Pack 3" option like I mentioned, then skip this section.

Otherwise, there's a couple places you can become the SPs from (at least). The easiest is from your MSDN business relationship. Salvage "Service Pack 1a", "Service Pack 2 (English)" and "Service Pack 3 (x86)" to the shared binder on your host machine.

The files are ISOs, so download Virtual CloneDrive in the VM (yous might accept to correct-click the exe, open properties, and press "unblock") and mount each file to install it. All you have to do is choose Settings and create a half-dozen virtual drives, then mountain each one to an ISO on the host machine.

Alternatively, you lot can catch them from the Microsoft Update Itemize:

  • Windows XP Service Pack i, Express (download) - 5/15/2004
  • Windows XP Service Pack two (download) - 9/thirteen/2005
  • Windows XP Pro Service Pack 2, x64 Edition (download) - v/23/2008
  • Windows XP Service Pack iii (download) - 5/19/2009

Install Updates

Although back up for XP ended v years ago, you can still catch the updates that were available. Click on Get-go / All Programs / Windows Update and select all the updates. Install, reboot, select more than updates, rinse, echo. Good ol' XP.

Setup a Development Environment

Now that XP has the latest updates and security patches of yesteryear, nosotros can setup a development environment. Gotta accept git. The last version of Git for Windows supported on XP was 2.ten.0, so download the exe and install it and so you can clone some repos!!

Visual Studio 2012

Thought this would be a good one to start with. I was wrong. VS2012 no likey XP.

Visual Studio 2010

You tin can download the free Visual Studio 2010 Limited, or the pro version from MSDN. Surprisingly, the look and feel were pretty like to what we've got a decade later. The team hadn't yet decided to CAPITALIZE ALL THE MENUS. NuGet integration wasn't congenital-in, but I'grand sure a quick search would turn up someone figuring out how to exercise it.

Visual Studio .NET 2003

Not retro plenty for yous? Permit'south become back some other few years and try out VS .NET 2003. It introduced .NET 1.one, so sadly no generics and definitely no LINQ withal. Boooo. If it complains about prereq's but yous don't take a prereq CD, try installing the Windows Components it'south complaining about.

Later that, I ran Windows Update (yet again), tried to install .NET one.1. SP1 (although it said information technology was already installed), rebooted, and finally ran the setup.exe file with a special flag that you can meet in the command window.

            F:\>./setup/setup.exe /NO_BSLN_CHECK

Not certain which part of all that fixed it (or was it a combination of everything?) only I got to a normal installation screen eventually. And hither'south the best WinForms had to offer:

Visual Basic vi.0

Notwithstanding not retro enough?? Allow'due south become dorsum a couple decades to VB 6.0. Forget everything you lot thought you knew... this is before the .NET Framework altogether.

Wow, when did we lose this?! There was a wizard to create an ultra mod app, complete with splash screens, toolbars, "about" screens..... built-in interweb browsers!! I'k non sure why we ever progressed beyond this.

Visual Basic four.0

Older! More than olderer!! Okay, here'southward VB 4.0 from 25 years ago. Look at that GUI.. every component is a split floating toolbar.. thing. And the humble get-go of (gag) Crystal Reports. 🤢 🤮

Must. Go. OLDER!!

25 years isn't retro enough?!? You're relentless.

Check out my mail from a few years back on installing Windows 3.i. Get a sneak peek at Visual Basic 2.0, QBasic, and all manners of 16-fleck awesomeness. ;p