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Windows should have a similar amount of compatibility. The API is basically the same at least as far back as Windows 3.1 (1992), and probably further (though I have no personal experience with programming for older versions of Windows).

Also, Windows 3.1 can be augmented with Win32s, which offers a subset of the 32-bit Windows API -- so it's possible for a single binary to run on Windows 3.1 all the way through Windows 10 (64-bit Windows does not support 16-bit executables). If you want to try this for yourself, Win32s is rather finicky, so executables produced by modern compilers won't run. I believe I used Borland C++ 5.5, which is now available as a free download.



It's actually interesting how similar a pure Windows API app for Windows 8 looks to one created for Windows 1.0. A fun example of this is Charles Petzold's birthday cake app:

http://charlespetzold.com/etc/Windows1/CAKE.C

With relatively minor modifications, it'll run on Windows 7/8 and look exactly as it did on Windows 1.0 30 years ago.

The app was actually created for a fun presentation he gave in 2005:

http://www.charlespetzold.com/etc/windows1/


Yea, Win32s had many limitations, and was a joke compared to OS/2 2.0. I mentioned before that PX00307 pretty much ignored them.




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