Virtual OS Museum lets you run 570+ extinct operating systems in your browser

The Virtual OS Museum, recently highlighted by ZDNET's Jack Wallen, is a passion project that preserves computing history by letting users run over 570 operating systems that are no longer commercially available. Built on top of VirtualBox, the museum boots a lightweight Debian Linux instance from which users select an OS to launch. Two editions exist: a Lite version (14GB) that streams OS images from the internet, and a Full version (174GB) that contains all images locally for offline use. Supported systems span the entire history of computing, including early mainframes (e.g., GE 200, NORC), minicomputers (DEC Alpha, HP 3000), workstations (NeXTSTEP, MIPS-based SBCs), home computers (Commodore 64, Atari, Apple I/II/III), mobile/embedded OSes (Palm, Newton, iPod touch), and many Linux distros like early Debian, Red Hat, Slackware, and Caldera OpenLinux.

The project's creator maintains a YouTube channel with installation walkthroughs. Wallen used the museum to revisit Caldera OpenLinux, his first Linux distribution from 1997, calling the experience 'joyful.' The museum is not intended for daily driving but serves as a nostalgia trip and educational tool for understanding OS evolution. The setup is straightforward: download a zip, unzip, and run an executable; VirtualBox opens the Debian environment. With its vast catalog and ease of use, the Virtual OS Museum offers a unique time capsule for tech enthusiasts and historians alike.