--- title: GitHub - jmarshall23/msword: Port of Microsoft Word 1.1a... description: A GitHub project that ports Microsoft Word for Windows 1.1a (codenamed Opus) to native 64-bit Windows. The port compiles the original C source and resources,... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/github---jmarshall23-msword-port-of-microsoft-word-1-1a-to-x64-with-extra-features-for-research-pur-stkxbhgab twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: GitHub - jmarshall23/msword: Port of Microsoft Word 1.1a to x64 with extra features for research purposes. | daily.dev og:description: A GitHub project that ports Microsoft Word for Windows 1.1a (codenamed Opus) to native 64-bit Windows. The port compiles the original C source and resources,... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/github---jmarshall23-msword-port-of-microsoft-word-1-1a-to-x64-with-extra-features-for-research-pur-stkxbhgab og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/sTKXbhgaB.png og:image:alt: GitHub - jmarshall23/msword: Port of Microsoft Word 1.1a to x64 with extra features for research purposes. og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # GitHub - jmarshall23/msword: Port of Microsoft Word 1.1a to x64 with extra features for research purposes. **[Hacker News](https://daily.dev/sources/hn)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A GitHub project that ports Microsoft Word for Windows 1.1a (codenamed Opus) to native 64-bit Windows. The port compiles the original C source and resources, replacing 16-bit x86 assembly, segmented memory handling, and Win16 APIs with x64-compatible equivalents using CMake and Visual Studio 2022. The result is the original Word application running as a genuine 64-bit executable — not an emulator. The project includes a test suite covering runtime, data structures, UI workflows, and process startup, and provides build instructions for both debug and release configurations. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How do you port a 16-bit Win16 application to run natively on 64-bit Windows without an emulator? Porting a Win16 application to native x64 requires translating 16-bit x86 assembly entry points to fixed-width C or C++, mapping segmented and double-indirect memory handles to an x64-safe native runtime, and adapting Win16 startup, messaging, graphics, file, and resource behavior to current Win32 APIs. The original C source files remain authoritative; only the platform boundary code is replaced. CMake inventories legacy assembly as a reference but does not compile it into native targets. _Developers tackling similar legacy porting work track approaches and tooling on daily.dev._ ### What tools and build requirements are needed to build the Microsoft Word 1.1a x64 port? Building the Word 1.1a x64 port requires 64-bit Windows, Visual Studio 2022 with the Desktop development with C++ workload, a Windows 10 or Windows 11 SDK, CMake 3.25 or newer, and PowerShell. The project uses CMake presets for x64-debug and x64-release configurations and generates a Visual Studio solution at out/MicrosoftWordX64Port.sln. _Engineers working with CMake-based legacy builds find relevant tooling discussions on daily.dev._ ## Community take How the wider developer community reacted, aggregated from 1 discussion and 1 comments across lobsters (as of 2026-08-11). **TL;DR:** The community finds this a fun and interesting project, drawing comparisons to similar retro software porting efforts, with only a minor practical concern about the Visual Studio 2022 build requirement. **Sentiment:** 80% positive · 20% mixed · 0% skeptical **The case for** - The project is seen as a genuinely fun and novel effort, comparable to well-regarded retro Unix software ports. **The pushback** - Requiring Visual Studio 2022 as the build toolchain limits accessibility for some developers. **By community** - lobsters (positive): Enthusiastic about the project and draws favorable comparisons to Tavis Ormandy's Unix ports of WordPerfect and Lotus 1-2-3, with a mild gripe about the VS2022 build requirement. **Open questions** - Will the project add support for build toolchains beyond Visual Studio 2022? **Highlights** > Fun project for sure. In a similar vein I've been enjoying being able to use the unix versions of [word perfect](https://github.com/taviso/wpunix) and [lotus 1-2-3](https://github.com/taviso/123elf) that have been made possible to run on modern linux by Tavis Ormandy. Unfortunately it seems that Visual Studio 2022 is required to build this currently, but hopefully Visual Studio 2026 will be supported at some future point in time so I can build this and try it out. > — [jbe\_ on lobsters · 1 points](https://lobste.rs/s/8k3c7u/msword_port_microsoft_word_1_1a_x64#c_pmzjsa) **Source threads** - [lobsters](https://lobste.rs/s/8k3c7u/msword_port_microsoft_word_1_1a_x64) · 1 points · 1 comments ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Windows 1.0 and the WinAPI, 40 Years Later](https://daily.dev/posts/windows-1-0-and-the-winapi-40-years-later-neh5lkqwf) · Two Stop Bits · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [WordStar Lives Again \(and Again\)](https://daily.dev/posts/wordstar-lives-again-and-again--lto6l9sxi) · Hackaday · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [I found a free Microsoft Word alternative that doesn't compromise on features](https://daily.dev/posts/i-found-a-free-microsoft-word-alternative-that-doesn-t-compromise-on-features-lwi3rfsww) · XDA Developers · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Announcing BX-WORD: Native Microsoft Word Automation for BoxLang](https://daily.dev/posts/announcing-bx-word-native-microsoft-word-automation-for-boxlang-wpctfu9dm) · Foojay.io · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#windows](https://daily.dev/tags/windows), [#c](https://daily.dev/tags/c), [#reverse-engineering](https://daily.dev/tags/reverse-engineering) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/github---jmarshall23-msword-port-of-microsoft-word-1-1a-to-x64-with-extra-features-for-research-pur-stkxbhgab) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"GitHub - jmarshall23/msword: Port of Microsoft Word 1.1a to x64 with extra features for research purposes.","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/github---jmarshall23-msword-port-of-microsoft-word-1-1a-to-x64-with-extra-features-for-research-pur-stkxbhgab","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/github---jmarshall23-msword-port-of-microsoft-word-1-1a-to-x64-with-extra-features-for-research-pur-stkxbhgab"},"datePublished":"2026-08-09T07:41:51.444Z","dateModified":"2026-08-11T15:21:56.009Z","description":"A GitHub project that ports Microsoft Word for Windows 1.1a (codenamed Opus) to native 64-bit Windows. 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