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Calmira Reborn – a Windows 9x-inspired shell for Windows 3.1

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Re: Calmira Reborn – a Windows 9x-inspired shell for Windows 3.1

#31

Post by anthk »

pocketarc wrote: post #30
ttrrooppeerr wrote: post #7

Took me a while to find the link, so here are some screenshots for you: http://calmira.net/screenshots/index.htm

The Chrios screenshot is interesting. > Sorry for my Bad English i am a 14 Years old Boy who loved old OS's! That's actually amazing. You have to wonder what the story is. How did he end up even hearing about/using Calmira? And he's got his hands on an old laptop as well, apparently. It's stuff like this that makes you appreciate that the internet is just as quirky as it always was. Curious people are still using it…

Today with Mirc if you connected that to Bitlbee servers you could chat even against Steam, Telegram and newer IRC protocols (IRC+SSL).

Also, there are good Gopher clients for DOS/Win 3.1, so gopher://hngopher.com would still work.

Re: Calmira Reborn – a Windows 9x-inspired shell for Windows 3.1

#32

Post by anthk »

askonomm wrote: post #23
integricho wrote: post #6

So is there a light, Windows 9x-like (so really really fast and responsive) shell for Windows 10? I cannot believe how unresponsive Windows 10 is, the menus, windows, all opening with so huge delays, it's a disgrace.

I don't know, with 64GB 6000mhz RAM and Ryzen 9 7950X processor, things are instant for me on Windows 11, and even faster on Windows 10. Surely nobody runs on Windows on any lesser system?

Get Virtualbox. Install Windows 2000 or XP or an old Linux with KDE 3.15 on it.

Notice the lack of latency, notice how it flies and there's no delay on displaying the widgets and typing on a text editor or a word processor.

Re: Calmira Reborn – a Windows 9x-inspired shell for Windows 3.1

#33

Post by anthk »

qwerty456127 wrote: post #18

I'd rather have a good (all I've seen are grotesquely low-quality gimmick) Windows3x/9x/XP shell for modern OSes. IMHO what we need to preserve is retro UX seamlessly integrated into the modern world (e.g. a pixel-perfect Win3x-like DE based on all the modern libraries/kernels and this way capable of interacting with modern web and peripherals). But it's definitely nice to see people are developing anything cool for…

Chicago 95 does it well with XFCE. And B00merang has almost 1:1 theme clones for 3.11.

Re: Calmira Reborn – a Windows 9x-inspired shell for Windows 3.1

#34

Post by anthk »

LeoPanthera wrote: post #13
1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #5

How do we download and install Windows 3.1 in 2023. I would like to install it on bootable USB stick.

Remember that Windows 3.1 is a shell, not an operating system. You need to install DOS first. https://winworldpc.com/product/windows-3/31 And your choice of DOS: MS-DOS 6.22: https://winworldpc.com/product/ms-dos/622 or, PC-DOS 2000: https://winworldpc.com/product/pc-dos/2000 A good choice for early PC emulation is 86Box: https://86box.net

DOSBox will do it fine and much faster than 86box.

EDIT: Ok, install. Well, using DOSBox in full screen would be pretty close to a screen of its era, save for being flat.

Re: Calmira Reborn – a Windows 9x-inspired shell for Windows 3.1

#35

Post by anthk »

rpastuszak wrote: post #17
1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #5

How do we download and install Windows 3.1 in 2023. I would like to install it on bootable USB stick.

Not sure about running it from a bootable USB stick, but DOSBox + Win 3.11 was fairly simple to set up on Mac, i.e. I have no internet, but MS Bob works like charm.

DOSBox-X has internet support with NE2000.

Re: Calmira Reborn – a Windows 9x-inspired shell for Windows 3.1

#36

Post by aliqot »

askonomm wrote: post #23
integricho wrote: post #6

So is there a light, Windows 9x-like (so really really fast and responsive) shell for Windows 10? I cannot believe how unresponsive Windows 10 is, the menus, windows, all opening with so huge delays, it's a disgrace.

I don't know, with 64GB 6000mhz RAM and Ryzen 9 7950X processor, things are instant for me on Windows 11, and even faster on Windows 10. Surely nobody runs on Windows on any lesser system?

jeeeesus, do you dump old beer and banana peels into that thing or does it take unleaded?

Re: Calmira Reborn – a Windows 9x-inspired shell for Windows 3.1

#38

Post by andrepd »

ickoonite wrote: post #8
ttrrooppeerr wrote: post #7

Took me a while to find the link, so here are some screenshots for you: http://calmira.net/screenshots/index.htm

Gosh, the first screenshot took me back. The MIDI player was part of a set of apps that came with the SoundBlaster 16 that stacked together like hifi separates. There was a CD player and a WAV player as well. Haven't seen them in, oooh, 25 years. http://calmira.net/screenshots/andrew.htm

Oh my god, memory unlocked for me as well. I remember playing around with all the instruments. I must have been no older than 4 or 5.

Re: Calmira Reborn – a Windows 9x-inspired shell for Windows 3.1

#40

Post by thesuitonym »

protoman3000 wrote: post #16

Who uses these things productively as daily driver in 2023? No judgement, just curious.

Do people have to be constantly productive all day every day? Maybe someone just has some old games they want to play, and they want a more modern shell to do it with.

But if productivity is the only thing you recognize, I recall reading that George R.R. Martin uses an incredibly old PC to write on. I think it was DOS or maybe Windows 3.1.

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