I really want to make one of my websites use this.. I just can't think of one that would fit.
Also shout out XFCE-winxp-tc, which makes your Linux look like Windows XP. Lots of people know about Chicago95, but this project is excellent for that 2004 vibe
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.
Firefox (Nightly) on Android: tabs don't work: when clicking on a tab, the URL changes, there's a slight jump in content, but the new tab is not selected. Hope this helps
I've also once experienced burnout, a book called Pedram Shojai: The Urban Monk has kept it away since. It's practical, not religious. Highly recommend it!
> I no longer work on 98.css and I haven’t in a really long time. My only contribution to the project is monitoring the repo for high-quality pull requests. If I get one, I briefly scan through the author’s profile to make sure they’re not going to mine cryptocurrency on my user’s machines, and then I give them full commit access. “Looks good, go ahead and merge this yourself.”
It’s a job well done. I personally liked 2000’s colour choices, but 98 managed to look modern enough a couple Unix window managers decided to copy it.
As my GUI look of choice, I’d be between IRIX and OpenWindows. Motif always looked a bit unfinished and CDE was a child of its time - who sets up printers?
unjokingly I think the fact that we removed grayed out buttons for "the button just doesn't appear" is one of the more confusing UI trends of our day and the sight of a grayed out button warms my heart
I think the button shouldn't appear if the user doesn't have the access to do it (eg. not an admin, has view rights only, etc).
However, if the user can and they expect to do it, but is in a mode/state which doesn't allow them to do it, greyed out buttons absolutely.
In some cases, greyed out buttons should be clickable (eg. forms) and that should tell the user what is wrong. Looking at you, billion dollar airline, where I couldn't complete my checkin due to this annoyance.
Also, what happened to hover messages and little (?) marks? Every software behaves like it expects me to know what to do from Day 1.
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*
Multi-row tabs are the primary thing I dislike about old UIs. You never seem to see them anymore, for which I am immensely grateful. Not only do they take up valuable vertical space, but they way the rows jump around always confused more than it really should have - a button shouldn't move after I click it, especially if it is representing state.
Flat, or quasi-flat (minimalistic/brutalist), design is fantastic if one makes use of appropriate visual discriminators, e. g. shadows, outlines, contrasts etc. Less is more here. Which makes this design philosophy clash with Apple's, Google's, or their imitators, oversaturated Fisher-Price playdough-UIs.
Not only flat design but also using less color. We have monitors and graphics cards that can display millions of colors now and we refuse to use it... Not that it has to look like a coloring book but sheez Windows 10 and 11 make me feel depressed.
Most people crave change and novelty and flat design provided just that. I'm now anti-flat design but I remember vividly thinking Windows Vista looked awesome and then some years after that thinking Windows 8 was pretty cool.
Now I long for skeuomorphism, but if that becomes the norm for 10 years... after that who knows?
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" ...
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?!?)
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.
68 comments
[ 0.74 ms ] story [ 52.9 ms ] thread2024 (471 points, 93 comments) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42056918
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https://github.com/anthmn/hackertosh.css
https://github.com/AlexBSoft/win95.css
https://github.com/1j01/os-gui
https://github.com/themesberg/windows-95-ui-kit
https://github.com/andersevenrud/retro-css-shell-demo
https://github.com/arturbien/React95
https://github.com/botoxparty/XP.css
https://github.com/Gioni06/terminal.css
https://github.com/jdan/98.css
https://github.com/jianzhongli/csswin10
https://github.com/khang-nd/7.css
https://github.com/kristopolous/BOOTSTRA.386
https://github.com/lachsfilet/Renkbench
https://github.com/lolstring/window98-html-css-js
https://github.com/micah5/PSone.css
https://github.com/nostalgic-css/NES.css
https://github.com/npjg/classic.css
https://github.com/robbiebyrd/platinum
https://github.com/bryanbraun/after-dark-css
https://github.com/npjg/new-dawn
https://github.com/ritenv/retro-desktop
https://github.com/RoelN/c64css3
https://github.com/sakofchit/system.css
https://github.com/vinibiavatti1/TuiCss
https://code.divshot.com/geo-bootstrap/
https://cs16.samke.me/
Also shout out XFCE-winxp-tc, which makes your Linux look like Windows XP. Lots of people know about Chicago95, but this project is excellent for that 2004 vibe
[0] https://github.com/rozniak/xfce-winxp-tc
Very nice!
As my GUI look of choice, I’d be between IRIX and OpenWindows. Motif always looked a bit unfinished and CDE was a child of its time - who sets up printers?
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.
However, if the user can and they expect to do it, but is in a mode/state which doesn't allow them to do it, greyed out buttons absolutely.
In some cases, greyed out buttons should be clickable (eg. forms) and that should tell the user what is wrong. Looking at you, billion dollar airline, where I couldn't complete my checkin due to this annoyance.
Also, what happened to hover messages and little (?) marks? Every software behaves like it expects me to know what to do from Day 1.
Also, the way multi-row tabs Just Work in the UIs of yesteryear *chef's kiss*
Flat, or quasi-flat (minimalistic/brutalist), design is fantastic if one makes use of appropriate visual discriminators, e. g. shadows, outlines, contrasts etc. Less is more here. Which makes this design philosophy clash with Apple's, Google's, or their imitators, oversaturated Fisher-Price playdough-UIs.
Now I long for skeuomorphism, but if that becomes the norm for 10 years... after that who knows?
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?!?)
I suspect those UI designers have been working on your comment, too