Many computing challenges stand out because they are absurd. For example, we still vividly remember a certain 1994 Pentium laptop running a modern Linux kernel, and it would be a mistake on our part to ignore Windows XP running on another Pentium chip, set to 8 MHz. What do we have in our hands today? The very Windows 7, on a Pentium processor adjusted to 5 MHz, and with just 128 MB of RAM. In a few words, it is a miracle.
Windows 7's Support Is Ending
Extended support for Windows 7 under the ESU (Extended Security Updates) system will end alongside Windows 8.1 support on January 10. Only a couple of embedded versions will receive additional patches until October 2023 and 2024 respectively, but the message is clear: Microsoft is retiring legacy editions of Windows, one by one.
However, that does not eliminate the possibility of using Windows 7 for the craziest experiments, and so we come to the NTDEV channel on YouTube. After seeing delusions like Windows 10 in 900 megabytes of disk and Windows XP with 16 MB of RAM, it's time for Windows 7 running on a Pentium processor set to 5 MHz. Can you imagine Windows 7 taking half an hour to boot? Well... don't imagine it anymore.
Windows 7 at 5 MHz and 128 MB of RAM
Based on the information available on the first screen, NTDEV uses a FIC VA-503+ motherboard with an Apollo MVP3 chipset, and a Pentium 50 processor. This board has a large number of jumpers to adjust the CPU speed, but I imagine that some extra modifications must have been made to reach 5 MHz.
Logically, Windows 7 resisted this... horror, but NTDEV's strategy was to disable LogonUI, and enter a barren OOBE mode, loading just a system console. Reaching that point took 28 minutes and 43 seconds, and to confirm the processor frequency, he used a classic of classics like WCPUCLK by H.Oda.
As a final action, he opened Notepad (which took another 15 seconds) to check that multitasking was still working. The Notepad "About" reports the Windows edition: Windows 7 Ultimate with Service Pack 1, build 7601. Is it possible to lower the frequency even further...?
