Chicago95 – Windows 95 Theme for Linux • Hacker News Board

Re: Chicago95 – Windows 95 Theme for Linux

#51

Post by ilyt » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 12:59 PM UTC

troad wrote: post #25

I'm a big fan of this aesthetic. If you appreciate the usability of W95 without needing a pixel perfect copy, it's very easy to theme KDE to strike a really good balance. As your global theme, use 'Reactionary'. Set your application style to 'MS Windows 9x'. For your icons, use 'Memphis98'. For cursors, 'Hackneyed (scaleable)'. Your Plasma style, colours, and window decorations should all follow your global theme (Re…

I don't like how it looks (prefer a bit flatter buttons, but that are still buttons), but windows didn't really get any more usable after that...

Re: Chicago95 – Windows 95 Theme for Linux

#52

Post by Paul-Craft » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 12:59 PM UTC

antegamisou wrote: post #28

mrabcx wrote: post #2

Some of these old style themes are interesting for nostalgic reasons but then after a while you do realize that there are reasons why the world has moved on.

Personally Windows 8 UI and after is the reason I'm never going to touch this specific OS again. In fact, I find it an even bigger hindrance than the monstrosity Windows Updates is.

I agree. I think Windows XP is where the windows UI peaked.

Re: Chicago95 – Windows 95 Theme for Linux

#53

Post by stainablesteel » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 1:12 PM UTC

this is the kind of stuff i use when we get a new IT person, i walk over and ask for help doing something mundane just to watch their reaction

Re: Chicago95 – Windows 95 Theme for Linux

#54

Post by regularfry » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 1:16 PM UTC

squarefoot wrote: post #48

ekianjo wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Windows 9x was slow because hard drives. Now we have SSDs and the desktop is slower than ever still.

Desktop became slow when windows and widgets became objects, as in the OOP sense. The transition from hardcoded primitives to objects that would be created and destroyed on the fly slowed things down a lot, but that is the price to pay to have code that runs on very different platforms, also adapting itself to different screen sizes and resolutions, dynamic objects, etc.

So we should expect the introduction of MFC in 1992 to draw the dividing line between the halcyon "fast desktop" days and modern slowness?

Re: Chicago95 – Windows 95 Theme for Linux

#55

Post by mcny » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 1:18 PM UTC

ilyt wrote: post #51

troad wrote: post #25

I'm a big fan of this aesthetic. If you appreciate the usability of W95 without needing a pixel perfect copy, it's very easy to theme KDE to strike a really good balance. As your global theme, use 'Reactionary'. Set your application style to 'MS Windows 9x'. For your icons, use 'Memphis98'. For cursors, 'Hackneyed (scaleable)'. Your Plasma style, colours, and window decorations should all follow your global theme (Re…

I don't like how it looks (prefer a bit flatter buttons, but that are still buttons), but windows didn't really get any more usable after that...

> windows didn't really get any more usable after that...

The old UI is good but I am not a fan of the everything is folders and files idea of the start menu. Maybe I'm misremembering but iirc as a child I used to forget which sub menu inside the thing I needed was except for the ones I used frequently.

I like being able to just type obs and press enter in the new windows. I preferred the old theme better than windows XP Luna theme. I had a copy of tune up software and it said the old theme is somehow easier on my ram? iirc I only had 128MB on my pentium 4 computer.

Re: Chicago95 – Windows 95 Theme for Linux

#56

Post by raffraffraff » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 1:19 PM UTC

soraminazuki wrote: post #26

reacharavindh wrote: post #4

Not that I want the UX To _look_ like Windows 95, but I sure do feel nostalgic how fast and responsive the desktop “felt” back in those days. These days, it is a rarity to see a native app that is as responsive. It feels like all native apps burn through CPU cycles in cosmetic things and animations that it feels sluggish in comparison.

That's not how I remember it. Windows 9x was slow and constantly crashing. Booting and launching programs took ages. To be fair, the performance problems had more to do with the available hardware back then, but still.

I had a carefully crafted 98SE CD that was created using a tool called (I think) 98lite. It let you remove components and set defaults. That was rock solid for me, and used so few resources. Boot times were very quick considering the hardware at the time. The all-important post-install defrag made a difference.

I didn't switch away from 98SE on my home computer until XP SP2 (which I immediately theme to look like 98 because I hated the primary colour nonsense).

Actually, every Windows installation from then until I switched to Linux was "shrunk" and tweaked (can't remember what tool I used, but it wasn't an official MS thing). Having a full licenced copy of InstallShield at work was extremely handy too - every app was repackaged into a fully automatic installer and bundled with the OS. It almost felt like a cloned PC. In fact when I got a job managing fleets of PCs, that XPCD Builder script was like a superpower.

Re: Chicago95 – Windows 95 Theme for Linux

#57

Post by jwells89 » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 1:19 PM UTC

jug wrote: post #36

Would be cool to “do it right” and have a proper window manager for Linux like this rather than “just” a skin (I really don’t want to diminish the ton of work sunk into this). So you get the last details about windowing behavior and animations right, and achieving much more in terms of start menu, task bar behavior and so on. To be less niche and reach even more nostalgic users it could be something like a RetroWM wi…

I’ve wanted to work on OS clone desktop environments (to cover all the little things a window manager alone can’t) for a while now because I think it’s worthwhile to preserve older environments and keep them available for usage even after their commercial creators have abandoned them.

Finding the time to do that is a challenge though, particularly with the higher activation energy of having to learn the ins and outs of X11, Wayland, and other bits and pieces involved in building a functional *nix desktop.

Re: Chicago95 – Windows 95 Theme for Linux

#58

Post by charles_f » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 1:25 PM UTC

This is so beautiful it brings tears to my eyes! Reproductions like this somehow always end up feeling just a bit off, like being so close but something is wrong. But this one seems spotless.

Pure UI that works from before the word "ux" was invented.

Re: Chicago95 – Windows 95 Theme for Linux

#59

Post by mbwgh » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 1:27 PM UTC

wanderingstan wrote: post #49

soraminazuki wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not how I remember it. Windows 9x was slow and constantly crashing. Booting and launching programs took ages. To be fair, the performance problems had more to do with the available hardware back then, but still.

Hard to believe that a few system crashes per day was the norm. You just hoped you hadn’t lost too much, would re-boot and go get a drink while you waited. Due to that “training” I still hit CTRL-S obsessively even when it hasn’t been needed for years.

For me, my Ctrl+S moment was with Apple's Writer, on my first Macbook back in 2005 or so. Lost a whole evening's worth of work due to a crash.

I'm mostly in the `:w` camp now, but still...

Re: Chicago95 – Windows 95 Theme for Linux

#60

Post by _dain_ » Sun, Jul 30, 2023, 1:28 PM UTC

CalRobert wrote: post #24

mrabcx wrote: post #2

Some of these old style themes are interesting for nostalgic reasons but then after a while you do realize that there are reasons why the world has moved on.

Moved on to dark patterns and dumbed down interfaces. Personally, I really miss mnemonics. Alt+underlined letter for_everything_. But having an underlined letter for everything died out and keyboard nav means a lot more memorization.

Office still has this.