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Make Linux look like Windows 95

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Re: Make Linux look like Windows 95

#193
post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hated gradients on Windows. They looked as if the "stepped out" from the GUI. They broke the "3D layering" illusion.

Gradients would have looked bad with 8-bit color, which was still very much in use in the 1990s. Solid color was the reasonable choice back then.

Windows 98 didn't allow gradients on 256 color (8-bit) modes. You had to use at least high color (16-bit). (Win 95 didn't have gradients.)

Re: Make Linux look like Windows 95

#195
post #2

Can anyone think of a reason why to do this? Apart from personal fun project, of course!

Because we hit peak desktop right around Windows 2000. Just about everything since then has been a step backwards in speed and usability. The Mac Finder is a hot mess and seems to get worse with every release. The 964 different desktops available for Linux are in general a hodgepodge of slow impossible-to-use disasters. A notable exception is XFCE but it's a bit of a second-class citizen and even things in XFCE don't…

I'd argue that we hit peak desktop with OSX Snow Leopard.

Re: Make Linux look like Windows 95

#196

I have used themes like this on Linux and also some to make it look like MacOS. What I really want on Linux are tools that are written to be exactly like Windows, no more no less. Why? Well in addition to the numerous OS related problems I seem to encounter every time I go back and do a clean install of a distro like Ubuntu I am also annoyed by how poorly designed many of the basic tools like the calculator is. The W…

Not Plasma? https://i0.wp.com/9to5linux.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/k...

The idea of using Windows 95 instead of Plasma is just absurd to me.

Windows 95 Explorer vs Dolphin? What?

Re: Make Linux look like Windows 95

#199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because we hit peak desktop right around Windows 2000. Just about everything since then has been a step backwards in speed and usability. The Mac Finder is a hot mess and seems to get worse with every release. The 964 different desktops available for Linux are in general a hodgepodge of slow impossible-to-use disasters. A notable exception is XFCE but it's a bit of a second-class citizen and even things in XFCE don't…

> we hit peak desktop right around Windows 2000 I could not disagree more strongly. Win2000 buttons are tiny, drag areas are tiny, basically everything is tiny and unclickable. I strongly prefer the generously-proportioned, touch-inspired interfaces of the last 4-5 years.

Please, go install Windows 2000 under Qemu at 1024x768 resolution, then press ctrl-alt-f to set the Window to a scaled fullscreen desktop. Do you feel it as tiny? That's how we saw Windows 2000 back in the day on a CRT monitor.

Re: Make Linux look like Windows 95

#200

I have used themes like this on Linux and also some to make it look like MacOS. What I really want on Linux are tools that are written to be exactly like Windows, no more no less. Why? Well in addition to the numerous OS related problems I seem to encounter every time I go back and do a clean install of a distro like Ubuntu I am also annoyed by how poorly designed many of the basic tools like the calculator is. The W…

FYI, there's a port of the Windows calculator to Linux (and a bunch of other platforms): https://github.com/unoplatform/calculator

Darn, its the new calculator. I actually delete this on a fresh Windows 10 install and if you search, there is an installer floating around that re-adds the Windows 7 calculator. It takes much longer for this new calculator to boot up and you can feel the bloat when using it.
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