otvdm (winevdm)
Shares rank 20 of 27 compatibility layers by recommenders
Runs 16-bit Windows programs on modern 64-bit Windows by emulating the processor and translating API calls. Most programs work, though not all are guaranteed.
Runs 16-bit Windows programs on modern 64-bit Windows by emulating the processor and translating API calls. Most programs work, though not all are guaranteed.
7 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 86%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Runs 16-bit Windows apps on 64-bit Windows
“my little exe ran on a Windows 10 64 bit machine just fine”
Comment from 22 Jul 2026 in “PCjs Machines” “Can run on modern 64-bit windows too with otvdm”
Comment from 21 Jul 2026 in “PCjs Machines” Old 16-bit programs work as expected
“It is surprisingly capable, I was able to run a 16-bit VB program that used a serial based optical modem without issue.”
Comment from 26 Mar 2026 in “Wine 11 rewrites how Linux runs Windows games at kernel with massive speed gains” “It emulates the processor and translates 16-bit api calls into 32-bit api calls so things work as you'd expect.”
Comment from 14 Jun 2026 in “Windows 1.0 and the WinAPI, 40 Years Later” “will run most of them fine”
Comment from 14 Jun 2026 in “Windows 1.0 and the WinAPI, 40 Years Later”
Other compatibility layers people recommend
The four most recommended other compatibility layers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proton by Valve | 451 | 189 | 70% | 13 | 2 yrs31 owners | Approved |
| Wine | 329 | 88 | 79% | 13 | 10 yrs11 owners | Approved |
| Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) | 159 | 101 | 61% | 12 | 3 yrs9 owners | — |
| WSL2 (Windows Subsystem for Linux) | 115 | 55 | 68% | 12 | — | Approved |
| otvdm (winevdm)This page | 6 | 1 | 86% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“if NTVDM was part of Windows then it seems fair to use it, even 3rd party clones”
“could never find adequate tools for maintaining/checking proofs/derivations”
“my little exe ran on a Windows 10 64 bit machine just fine”
“Can run on modern 64-bit windows too with otvdm”
“It emulates the processor and translates 16-bit api calls into 32-bit api calls so things work as you'd expect.”
“will run most of them fine”
“It is surprisingly capable, I was able to run a 16-bit VB program that used a serial based optical modem without issue.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.