Windows 3.1 under VirtualBox

Words can't describe the nostalgic feeling. I was never really fond of Microsoft's original major Windows operating system, 3.1. It had its uses back in the day on those old dual-scan TFT Toshiba laptops I use to run in college. I can still remember the flickers and the side trackballs. I was always an Amiga guy back then. I was the only one in college to do all my homework and work on an Amiga 1200.

Here it is running in 2013 under VirtualBox.

Notice how DOS 6.22 even recognizes my AMD FX-8320 8 core processor.

The year 2013 doesn't seem to effect to operating system. Windows can go well past any Y2K fears.

Unlike Mac OS 9, I couldn't get Windows 3.11 to run 2560x1600 on a 30" screen. I don't know what to say about the 800x600 256 colors!

Finally a good MySQL client for Linux, using WINE Crossover

If you've been running Ubuntu 11.04 and up, you will notice Canonical no longer provides support for the classic MySQL Query Browser and Admin. Instead, you are relegated to using MySQL Workbench or use an application like Emma.

Well, some people are set in their old ways and do not like to use something monolithic as Workbench. For example, if all you need to do is query, why go through the steps of making profiles to connect to random MySQLservers?

During the Election, Crossweaver gave away copies of Crossover for Linux and OSX. Crossover is a proprietary commercial version of Wine and works quite nice. It is not an OS virtualization tool like Vmware or Virtualbox. It is more of a run-time, application compatibility layer to allow you to run (some) Windows apps inside Linux or OSX. Instead of launching a heavy weighted OS, you launch a Wine Bottle and run your Windows app inside Linux with full access to the native filesystem.

How does it work? Quite fantastic. I installed the classic MySQL windows tool, HeidiSQL (a popular Windows MySQL client), Komodo Edit and Notepad++ with no problems.

HeidiSQL is so far superior to Emma.

Installation couldn't be easier. Build a bottle and select your .exe or .msi installer.

Like I wrote earlier, the app works within the OS. You can access your services locally like you do on any other native application. File-system is visible as well as networking

Pay attention to the screenshot below. I am connected to localhost (127.0.0.1). My local server is Ubuntu and my local client is WindowsXP. Cool. Dual identity.

Crossover works great on Mac OSX as well. However, I don't have applications deficit on Mac OSX so I wont be using it much on a Mac.

If you don't want to use Crossover, WINE is freely available.




Links:
http://www.codeweavers.com/products/
http://www.heidisql.com/
http://www.winehq.org/

Run native ARM Android Apps on your Macintosh

Back at Google I/O, Bluestacks made some headlines that announced you could run Android apps on a Mac.I took it for a spin and have something to report.

It is an early alpha so they have to work some kinks out. They have a curated set of 17 apps such as Facebook, twitter, flipboard and Angry Birds. I tried it and quickly removed it. It took 15 seconds to load which is way slow if you are running an SSD with 2 second Photoshop launches.
You can't install any other apps besides the curated apps.

It seems to be an emulator that does ARM binary to x86 translation. I heard of another similar project and decide to find out if it had a better experience.

BuilDroid is that project. Long time Mac users know what Rosetta did for the Mac OSX transition and this takes a similar approach.  If you remember, Rosetta did binary PowerPC translation for x86 and it ran reasonably well. This is the same idea but with a different architecture, ARM.
BuilDroid uses the "ARM binary emulator" from Intel ("libhoudini") to make this all work. Libhoudini is what will help Intel's Medfield ATOM platform enter the Android space.
This wan an genius idea to hack "libhoudini" and make an Android distro that runs inside VirtualBox.

The results? Well, VirtualBox booted the whole OS in less than 5 seconds vs Bluestack's 15 seconds.
You can install Google Play and download Google Apps and other applications from the market. I downloaded various apps and they work reasonably well. It has the full Ice Cream Sandwich OS with settings, notifications, and soft menu. In comparison, Bluestack is just an app launcher.

In fact, BuilDroid is faster than launching and running the Android SDK's simulator builds.

Both are early stage developments but I am leaning toward BuilDroid. I haven't tried BuilDroid on another operating system but I assume it will work just fine since it is running in VirtualBox.

Links:
http://bluestacks.com/
http://www.buildroid.org/

Galaxy Tab 2 Android running Mac OS

As you can see there is a common theme here. Retro goodness and 80s nostalgia. Here we have a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 running a classic operating system, Mac OS 7.5.

All you need is a a Mac Classic or Plus ROM, a disk image of the OS and minivmac  emulator at the Google Play Store.

If I have some time, I'll pull up a copy of Basilisk running Mac OS 8 on a HP Touchpad running WebOS.