Birbla

Discussion summary

A community discussed the Windows CE implementation on Dreamcast, noting that it loads from disc and lacks a graphical shell. Some see it as a fun hack, while others mention limited practical use.

What the discussion says

  • Few games used WinCE on Dreamcast.
  • WinCE binaries load from GD-ROM, not ROM.
  • No graphical shell available for WinCE on Dreamcast.
  • Some see it as a nostalgic or fun project.
  • Discussion about AI's role in hacking projects.
“Windows CE binaries are loaded from GD-ROM discs.”
— 0x1d7
“It's a fun hack, like running NT on a Wii.”
— crims0n

Join the discussion

Write your take first — we'll ask for email only when you're ready to publish.

Sign in
  • Hacker News
  • I actually love this because the entire time I owned a Dreamcast I used to look at the windows CE logo on the front and think, does it have windows CE in ROM? How can I boot it?
    by 486sx33
  • Very few games used WinCE.

    I see this project as simply fun, like running NT on a Wii.

    by 0x1d7
  • Same, especially because at the time of Dreamcasts’s release - Windows CE was everywhere in the handhelds and PDA market.
    by crims0n
  • Adding on to everyone else. Games that did run wince included the wince logo on the dreamcast splash screen.
    by toast0
  • There were some Microsoft Systems Journal issues with articles on how to program for Dreamcast, the non NDA part of it.

    Here is one of such articles, take it while still exists,

    https://jacobfilipp.com/MSJ/directx.html

    The sibling comment already has the other info, everything was bundled together.

    by pjmlp
  • Windows CE isn't in ROM, the binaries are loaded from GD-ROM disc for games that chose to use it. And booting it wouldn't do you much good anyway since there's no graphical or text shell. It's intended to launch straight into the game.
    by ThrowawayB7
  • I find it's a shame the article is absolutely littered with AI-isms, again, like another cool hack project the other day here on HN. It is incredibly jarring to read a line like "No Platform Builder, no SDK install, no CD key.".

    Sounds like a cool project but I find it a bit offensive that the article author doesn't value the article reader's time enough to edit the AI-isms out.

    On the other hand, trying to point this out usually results in downvotes, so maybe it's useless to complain about this trend?

    by 0x0
  • > so maybe it's useless to complain about this trend?

    It's not. Please don't stop pushing back against this deluge of crap.

    by ethagnawl
  • Years ago, when poor English in spam emails was a signal, I was always puzzled why spammers didn't spend the smallest amount of money to have a fluent speaker write their copy.
    by bdcravens
  • If you're going to throw AI at the problem, couldn't you get it to port the real Windows CE shell ?
    by TazeTSchnitzel
  • You’ve nailed the core of the smoking gun.
    by tangenter
  • I am guessing because the version of Windows CE (the Dreamcast SDK version) didn't have the source to it; and for whatever reason they didn't want to find that source. Copyright reasons perhaps?
    by jockm
  • "One cmake invocation goes from source to a bootable disc.gdi. No Platform Builder, no SDK install, no CD key." It's like the new emdash.
    by russdill
  • AI loves to sell the words they are saying like a QVC salesperson with a knife set.

    It doesn't just cut cans, it cuts tomatos too. You would think you have to sharpen it, but you don't.

    Not just this, but that.

    Sounds nothing like a normal succenct engineer.

    by RobKohr
  • I'm guessing this is a vibe coded shell + some apps over the CE kernel? Never seen any version of CE that looked like that.

    it might be dumb but it really breaks my heart seeing cool hack projects like these being vibe coded. Like they've thrown away some opportunity or something i can't really articulate why

    i think even the icons are drawn by claude which explains why they look so strange https://github.com/maximqaxd/wince-dc/blob/c929784ba13226cc3...

    by unleaded
  • Yeah, I skimmed the code, it's all vibes all the way down. I wanted a slice of history, I got slop.
    by StilesCrisis
  • Well, it's at least interesting in the sense that the user doesn't have to dig up a copy of Windows NT to run the toolchain, which is what was required for the original Windows CE for Dreamcast SDK and Platform Builder. I seem to remember that it wasn't forward compatible with Windows 2000 or any later OS, which was an annoyance.
    by ThrowawayB7