98.css • Hacker News Board

Re: 98.css

#51

Post by codazoda » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 2:08 AM UTC

bhouston wrote: post #28

Very authentic almost down to the pixel. I love it! Btw default buttons like OK should have a thick black outline. Also windows UIs loved group boxes and radio buttons and checkboxes. I notice those are missing. Also it seems that the dropdown is missing.

You may not have scrolled up. Much of that is included.

Re: 98.css

#52

Post by sodapopcan » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 2:09 AM UTC

Flat design is so ridiculous. Made someone a bunch of money. Now everyone follows like sheep. Sorry for the doomer comment but, like, really. I'd love to say that I'm surprised that we haven't gotten over this, but given it's been... 20 years (?)... I'm not surprised.

Also, the way multi-row tabs Just Work in the UIs of yesteryear *chef's kiss*

Re: 98.css

#53

Post by fitsumbelay » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 2:12 AM UTC

This is pretty cool plus I love anything that references classics like 980css and 2Advanced. I'm even OK with hearing the word "Flash" now in a way that some day I'll be with hearing "React" ...

Re: 98.css

#54

Post by olivierestsage » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 2:14 AM UTC

Still waiting desperately on a KDE theme for the win32 aesthetic

Re: 98.css

#55

Post by pdntspa » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 2:15 AM UTC

Finally, a throwback lib that seems to be mostly pixel-accurate! Some of the element spacing seems to be off but it does actually look like Windows 98.

The lack of accuracy and attention to detail in a lot of these efforts is incredibly irksome and annoying, just about as obnoxious as pixel-art games with inconsistent pixel sizes (like how hard is it to render to a smaller buffer and do a simple linear upscale?!?)

Re: 98.css

#56

Post by pdntspa » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 2:18 AM UTC

lambdaone wrote: post #20

Windows XP and MacOS System 7 had pretty good looking GUIs. Since then, modern keyboard-and-mouse UIs have not really improved that much; it's mostly been just evolving and polishing styling. All the real innovation has been on touchscreen devices.

XP? What with its Fischer-Price primary color scheme? You have got to be kidding me.

Re: 98.css

#57

Post by kushalpandya » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 2:21 AM UTC

While the browser support is not complete, styling the dropdown menu to match with Windows 98 should still be doable https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn_web_developme...

Re: 98.css

#58

Post by acchow » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 2:22 AM UTC

sodapopcan wrote: post #52

Flat design is so ridiculous. Made someone a bunch of money. Now everyone follows like sheep. Sorry for the doomer comment but, like, really. I'd love to say that I'm surprised that we haven't gotten over this, but given it's been... 20 years (?)... I'm not surprised. Also, the way multi-row tabs Just Work in the UIs of yesteryear *chef's kiss*

If it takes longer to find stuff on a page, one of the most prized metrics goes up: time on page.

And here we are.

Re: 98.css

#59

Post by rozap » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 2:24 AM UTC

timnetworks wrote: post #37

jordanscales wrote: post #23

Author here! This was my burnout recovery project and holds a place near and dear to my heart. https://notes.jordanscales.com/98-css-reflections

I wrapped many projects in 98.css. And some in Aero and even XP. Thank you!

What are your favorite aero or xp css design systems?

Re: 98.css

#60

Post by zkmon » Fri, Jul 24, 2026, 2:26 AM UTC

With every new version of the OS, the UI desigenrs were forced to show some change and call it improvement, even though those changes functionally unnecessary, more resource consuming, less faster, and less reliable.