Where can I find AOL (circa 1994) screenshots?
May 24, 2010 12:54 PM Subscribe
I am looking for a depository of old AOL/Compuserve/Prodigy screenshots, ideally from 1993-1998. Even better -- I'd love to find & run these actual programs on a modern computer. Where can I get screenshots, and where can I find the old versions of these programs/a way to run them?
I think you're going to be out of luck actually running the programs since the underlying services are either gone (in the case of Compuserve and Prodigy) or don't support the old versions of the software (in the case of AOL).
posted by JaredSeth at 1:26 PM on May 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by JaredSeth at 1:26 PM on May 24, 2010 [1 favorite]
A Google image search for prodigy internet lead me to this site with screenshots of the classic MadMaze game and a link to a web version that uses Internet Explorer (can't test that right now).
posted by 6550 at 1:57 PM on May 24, 2010
posted by 6550 at 1:57 PM on May 24, 2010
I suggest checking into emulation of DOS/Win95 and/or the appropriate contemporary MacOS versions as a way to get whatever screenshots you want.
At least on the Mac side, classic MacOS versions are available and freely downloadable, and there exist multiple emulators that can run them and simulate all of the hardware resources the old online services will expect and rely on. See here for more.
As for the AOL/Compuserve/Prodigy software you're going to need, really old versions of the relevant online services software can probably be found by doing an FTP search using an FTP search engine. In my experience, the FTP search route is a good way to find even the most abstruse old software packages (and particularly in situations where the software is for a platform that is itself pretty much extinct).
posted by killdevil at 4:06 PM on May 24, 2010
At least on the Mac side, classic MacOS versions are available and freely downloadable, and there exist multiple emulators that can run them and simulate all of the hardware resources the old online services will expect and rely on. See here for more.
As for the AOL/Compuserve/Prodigy software you're going to need, really old versions of the relevant online services software can probably be found by doing an FTP search using an FTP search engine. In my experience, the FTP search route is a good way to find even the most abstruse old software packages (and particularly in situations where the software is for a platform that is itself pretty much extinct).
posted by killdevil at 4:06 PM on May 24, 2010
Not sure about any of the subscription services, but you can download early versions of Netscape Navigator and NCSA Mosaic. Last I checked -- which would have been four or five years ago, I guess -- you could still run Navigator 1.0 on Windows XP. It's not exactly fit for your modern browsing needs, though.
posted by decagon at 10:44 PM on May 27, 2010
posted by decagon at 10:44 PM on May 27, 2010
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posted by TimeTravelSpeed at 12:59 PM on May 24, 2010