In a nutshell: The idea of installing almost every version of Windows from NT 4.0 to Windows 10 22H2 on an IBM ThinkPad T43 from 2005 sounds like an arduous task, but what made this feat even more remarkable was that the user achieved it without resorting to a virtual machine.
Redditor MatiHalek posted the results of the experiment to r/Windows, showing 26 years of Microsoft's operating systems running on the same bare-metal laptop. The gallery includes screenshots of the classic System Properties/About screens, taking viewers from the old NT era through to one of the final Windows 10 releases.
MatiHalek confirmed that no virtual machines were used during the process.
I installed (almost) all versions of Windows from NT 4 to 10 22H2 on my ThinkPad T43 with drivers!
by u/MatiHalek in windows
The experiment was not simply a case of repeatedly wiping the drive and starting again. MatiHalek said the laptop already had Windows XP installed when they got it, so they first added Vista as a dual-boot option.
From there, they followed the upgrade path from Vista to Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 RTM. Windows 10 22H2 proved more difficult and required a clean install through a Windows 10 1709 PE environment, followed by some workarounds.
After that, the user wiped the hard drive and set up what sounds like their preferred configuration: a multi-boot install of Windows 98 SE, Windows NT 4.0, and Windows 2000.
Released in 2005, the T43 was one of the last IBM-branded ThinkPads before Lenovo fully took over the line, and it remains a favorite among retro hardware fans.
The laptop included Intel's single-core Pentium M processor, ATI Mobility Radeon X300 or X300SE graphics, up to 2GB of DDR2 memory, and 40GB to 100GB hard drive options.
Display choices included 14.1-inch panels with resolutions up to 1,400 x 1,050, while connectivity covered Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, modem, VGA, S-Video, a parallel port, two USB 2.0 ports, a PC Card slot, and a docking connector.
That mix of late-XP-era hardware and broad driver support appears to have helped bridge several Windows generations. The Redditor noted that the GPU had drivers for NT 4.0, Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, while the Vista WDDM driver continued working on newer versions after upgrading.
With its higher demands, installing Windows 11 was a step too far, unsurprisingly. The T43's 32-bit Pentium M CPU and limited memory made Microsoft's latest OS effectively impossible to run. But getting Windows 10 22H2 running on a single-core ThinkPad from the IBM era is impressive enough.
Someone got 26 years of Windows running on a classic IBM ThinkPad T43 without a virtual machine
