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Retro Windows UI Nostalgia

Comments focus on how a project's UI resembles classic Windows interfaces from the 90s and early 2000s like Windows 95, 98, and XP, sparking nostalgia and comparisons to old themes.

➡️ Stable 0.7x Other
4,231
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#1912
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
3
2008
19
2009
59
2010
67
2011
109
2012
194
2013
104
2014
138
2015
106
2016
140
2017
117
2018
207
2019
256
2020
353
2021
454
2022
427
2023
473
2024
405
2025
542
2026
58

Top Contributors

userbinator (37) hulitu (32) anthk (27) rbanffy (27) theandrewbailey (26)

Keywords

WindowBlinds IMHO UX DAG NT SP3 R2 imgur.com XP ArcMenu windows windows 95 like windows theme 95 ui favorites xp vista look like

Sample Comments

mhomde • Feb 10, 2015 • View on HN

God, I had repressed what old windows UI's looked like

Animats • Nov 24, 2024 • View on HN

Aw. Kind of like Windows 7 Aero theme.

lousken • Jan 30, 2025 • View on HN

Growing up on windows 98 and xp I still don't understand what people like about modern looking apps

curt15 • Nov 27, 2024 • View on HN

The UI in the home page screenshot also looks like 90s-era Windows.

hyperdimension • May 19, 2021 • View on HN

UI being Windows 95-like sounds like a compliment to me.

throwthisaway2 • Jan 6, 2020 • View on HN

They are almost as magical as windows xp... almost

DonHopkins • May 29, 2021 • View on HN

Configuring the Windows desktop to look like Windows NT makes me feel 20 years younger!

pazimzadeh • Jan 4, 2016 • View on HN

Take a look at early versions of Windows.

userbinator • Mar 24, 2025 • View on HN

Early Windows looked good, but not anything Win8 or newer.

thanatropism • Jan 20, 2019 • View on HN

I wish there was a comparison with Windows 95 icons.