Andreas (82MHz)New blog post:
Windows 98 on a Thinkpad T41
http://82mhz.net/posts/2026/05/windows-98-on-a-thinkpad-t41/
R.L. Dane 
🍵 
I have it on reliable authority from someone on fedi that the rubber goo can be pretty easily removed with IPA and a rag. Of course, then it will be dull plastic, but at least not sticky. Maybe get a matte black vinyl wrap? That could look cool.
I envy the 4:3 display. :D
Those IBM-era thinkpads are almost unobtanium in good working order now, so I'm jelly. ;)
@rl_dane
The 4:3 display is one of the main reasons why I got this machine ;) Win9x just doesn't look right on widescreen.
I have read about the rubber coating removal, but it's not so sticky (yet) that I would attempt it. Maybe I'll just put a couple of stickers on to hide it ;)
You know, the vinyl wrap idea even works without removing the rubber first, but it could be icky later. ;)
My 2009-12-23-manufactured Thinkpad X200t (core 2 duo) is slowwwwly becoming vintage, but it's still terribly useful, except for the batteries.
Even Firefox launches quickly in recent versions of #OpenBSD. It barely feels inconvenient, except when attempting to run fancy websites like v86, which fails gloriously. XD
I even have syncthing on it, syncing up a couple dozen gigs of files and maybe 30k files. It does peg the CPU a bit from time to time, but not too bad. I have it set to poll the different directories at different times, rather than trying to keep active tabs on every file, which I think is too much for OpenBSD to handle without really tweaking with sysctl settings.
Moses Izumi@rl_dane @82mhz
was planning on covering up the goo on my T42 using fabric tape on the edges and a sticker of this image on the back
was planning on covering up the goo on my T42 using fabric tape on the edges and a sticker of this image on the back
@moses_izumi
I'll probably do something similar. Get a buch of cool looking stickers and just plaster it with those ;)
@rl_dane
Eventually I'll have to do something about the lid, yes. I bought a (sadly broken) Thinkpad R40 for next to nothing before I bought the T41, and this has just a regular hard plastic lid, which is so much better in retrospect... but it is what it is.
Your X200t sounds perfectly usable with a lightweight OS! Crazy to think that it's 17 years old and still going strong...
Yeah, its crazy. 😄
My x260 is ten years old now, and is a daily driver!! 😂
My aunt runs Fedora on her 11 year old dell, and when she occasionally complains (not often) that it's a little slow, I remind her that it's a decade old computer that was headed for the dustbin until Linux resurrected it. 😄
@rl_dane
Same here, I have a 2014 Macbook Air running Arch Linux, that's my daily driver as well. I have no complaints and no reason to replace it :)
Same here, I have a 2014 Macbook Air running Arch Linux, that's my daily driver as well. I have no complaints and no reason to replace it :)
Games That I Missed@82mhz The T41 was an excellent laptop. My spouse used one for 8 years, and only stopped because it was stolen.
Control-Esc is the key shortcut for the Windows menu, if a keyboard doesn't have a Windows key.
@GamesMissed
It's a nice machine indeed! Too bad it was stolen...
Thanks for the hint with ctrl-esc! No big deal that the key is missing, but I find it kind of baffling that it isn't there on a computer made for Windows XP.
It's a nice machine indeed! Too bad it was stolen...
Thanks for the hint with ctrl-esc! No big deal that the key is missing, but I find it kind of baffling that it isn't there on a computer made for Windows XP.
@82mhz My unfounded suspicion is that IBM was still annoyed that Microsoft dropped out of the OS/2 project, and omitted the Windows key out of pique.
@GamesMissed
That doesn't sound far fetched at all 😄
That doesn't sound far fetched at all 😄
Stephen Gower
jhx