The Windows 95 user interface was really something special.
Yeah, it is special how almost every element is somehow looks slightly off-center. It's also pretty much ripped off of NEXTSTEP.
It had Big Motif Energy, IMHO.
Screenshots from Windows 95
61–70 of 85 posts
Re: Screenshots from Windows 95
#62Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Calendar: "This GUI doesn't have this feature" -- yes it does. Double click the clock. https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20050621-04/?p=35...
Well I checked my Windows 95 VM, even opening a command prompt and typing "date"; changing the date view in that panel does change the date instantly. I never knew this was the behavior. He describes changing the behavior in Windows 2000 being "reluctant"; I would say it was the proper and expected design from the onset. Windows 95 does not have instant-change settings anywhere else, it's always safeguarded behind OK…
Yup, absolutely. I'd go so far as to say that in a window with clearly labeled OK/Cancel/Apply buttons, the instant change is a straight-up bug.
Re: Screenshots from Windows 95
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
Double clicking opens the date & time preferences (which already has a screenshot), not a calendar program. 9x did not ship with a clock or calendar program unless you upgraded from 3.x. The article mentions the clock in the taskbar explicitly. And unlike 98, 95 doesn't have a separate logout screen; it is always just another entry in the regular shutdown screen. The only glaring omission I see is the CD player, but…
I don't even think the CD Player is an optional component, my Windows 95 VM doesn't have it in the Add/Remove Programs dialog. It's just there.
It was in an upgraded version of Windows 95. Not the original:
> CD Player was included in Windows 98, Windows NT 3.51, Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 (as Deluxe CD Player). The program was also made available as part of an upgrade for Windows 95.
Re: Screenshots from Windows 95
#64> This is the first and only Windows to denote the current time zone on the map. Surprisingly, in the next editions of Windows, the world map simply occupies space and the highlight is nowhere to be seen. Explained here: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20030822-00/?p=42... > In early 1995, a border war broke out between Peru and Ecuador and the Peruvian government complained to Microsoft that the border wa…
I thought this was solved by setting map boundaries according to your locale.
Whatever country you set everything you, adjusts maps as well?
Re: Screenshots from Windows 95
#65There's always a degree of subjectivity and personal taste, but I do consider this to be the peak of OS UIs. I have an "ironic" machine at home that is an old retina iMac, with Linux installed and themed with Chicago95. My attempt at a machine with a nice hardware, nice OS and nice UI :)
I agree with you. Buttons were immediately identifiable as such, menus had keyboard shortcuts visible everywhere, all items always looked the same across all apps, and everything was really snappy. We've really gone backwards since.
I always loved the Solaris Nimbus GTK theme. It was one of the most polished GTK2 themes around. https://www.gnome-look.org/p/1080244
Re: Screenshots from Windows 95
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Aqua (in early versions of OS X) did a fantastic job of combining all this clear usability with a lot of fun visual flair. Even the old Qt/GTK themes which emulated that look were pretty good. It really is incredible how flat and boring modern macOS is.
At some point "skeuomorph" design went out of fashion, and everything had to be flat and simple. I think it all started with the Microsoft Zune (an MP3 player), which influenced Windows Phone, which influenced Windows 8. Then came iOS 7, and finally Android 5. I actually don't know when Mac OS went "flat". I only know ever since that time it is regularly unclear what a "button" is, as it doesn't look like a button.
> I think it all started with the Microsoft Zune (an MP3 player)
And its companion desktop application ca. 2009: https://www.neowin.net/news/flashback-microsofts-zune-hd-tur...
Re: Screenshots from Windows 95
#67One thing that's I feel like is missing from this site: the blue screen of death.
I've heard second-hand that these were mostly caused by third-party drivers for devices, and truly fixing it required rewriting the drivers in-house and deprecating the old driver model.
Re: Screenshots from Windows 95
#68It's kinda weird that the windows desktop looks essentially the same today and not even talking about the config dialogs from then that are still there.
Re: Screenshots from Windows 95
#69One thing that's I feel like is missing from this site: the blue screen of death. I've heard second-hand that these were mostly caused by third-party drivers for devices, and truly fixing it required rewriting the drivers in-house and deprecating the old driver model.
> I've heard second-hand that these were mostly caused by third-party drivers for devices, and truly fixing it required rewriting the drivers in-house and deprecating the old driver model.
Windows 95 had some memory protection but it was rather basic compared to for example NT and UNIX'es. So it was pretty easy for a faulty piece of software to cause a kernel panic.
Re: Screenshots from Windows 95
#70It’s now safe to turn off your computer.