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Comment by gtk40 | Hacker News Reader

I was playing around with Windows 95 in a VM a few years ago (I think 2020 when we all felt we had too much time on our hands). I was curious how modern of a web browser I could get and I found RetroZilla: https://rn10950.github.io/RetroZillaWeb/

It essentially backported some newer Gecko features and SSL certs to older version of Windows. I was able to use many common websites perfectly fine on this browser.

RetroZilla hasn't received an update since 2019 so it may not work as well now three years later. It looks like there may be a current build of K-Meleon for Windows 95 though so I may give that a whirl sometime.

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As far as TLS goes, Crypto Ancienne[1] can be useful in this context. (Don’t use it to bank or download blasphemous books, needless to say.)

[1] http://oldvcr.blogspot.com/2023/04/crypto-ancienne-22-now-su...

"Download blasphemous books"? That sounds like a highly specific use case, one I've never sought out. Why would it be inherently dangerous on Windows 95?

I think there's some context or euphemism I'm missing.

No, I’m being literal, it’s just the environment I’m suddenly finding myself in in recent months :) I simply meant that the security of the TLS library (port) is founded more on good wishes and optimism than on testing or expertise (which the authors freely admit), so don’t use it as a daily driver.

So more of a political situation. I live in the United States and there is no such similar concern.

There is Tor if you do live in a country that practices censorship.

> I live in the United States and there is no such similar concern.

The "blasphemous books" the parent was referencing could very well be any book that acknowledges the existence and humanity of trans people. See Florida, as well as a couple other states are particularly bad

One of these days I'll get that Win32 port done. Shouldn't be too difficult with things like mxe available.

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