Windows 95/98 GUI


shoober420

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Windows 11 27783
I felt this should be a grey / dark blue appreciation thread. the main reason i stopped using Windows was when they discontinued the classic theme, no matter what color. but i totally prefer grey / dark blue. Windows has lost touch, unfortunately in more ways than just theme.

Windows has become bloat, anyone who knows will know. but thats tweakable, the GUI isnt. i had to use resource hacker in Windows 7 to get Windows how i wanted it to look. This is what prompted me to use Linux. I then strived for no GUI at all.

CLI only. this is a grey taskbar, dark blue titlebar moment. what happened. even windows XP made it so modern with the colors. but the dark theme isnt the same. we need grey and dark blue back. modern anything sucks, but dont mess with the theme of windows.

CLI is CLI, but you dont change a GUI. that is a whole culture. i moved operating systems becuase of this. can anyone else feel me here. this is a big deal. this is a whole culture big deal. we need grey / dark blue back as an option. we need classic theme back as an option.

i really like Windows, but dark theme is too modern. im not using a cell phone when on a desktop. Windows 95/98 had a whole culture, and it needs to be brought back. dark mode isnt good enough.

whos with me? i know im not the only one!
 
Windows Build/Version
Windows 11 27729

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 27783
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel i7 7700 @4.0ghz
    Memory
    64gb DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon RX 5500 XT
    Other Info
    https://www.github.com/shoober420
  • Like
Reactions: WAI
whos with me? i know im not the only one!



We're all with you...


Microsoft Raid.png




There are links at the bottom for 3rd party programs, like... Explorer Patcher, StartAllBack, OpenShell, TranslucentTB, etc.


00000 Hard Drives.png

000000 Win 10 vs Win 11.png

000000 Win 11 - START and Context Menus.png



All I use is Winaero Tweaker, and TranslucentTB... and a lot of @Brink 's tutorials.


Heck, I even have Firefox set to browse like a caveman. :-)

Image1.png


 
Last edited:

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win 11 Home ♦♦♦26100.3037 ♦♦♦♦♦♦♦24H2 ♦♦♦non-Insider
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® [May 2020]
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
    Motherboard
    Asus Pro WS X570-ACE (BIOS 4702)
    Memory
    G.Skill (F4-3200C14D-16GTZKW)
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA RTX 2070 (08G-P4-2171-KR)
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC1220P / ALC S1220A
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell U3011 30"
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1600
    Hard Drives
    2x Samsung 860 EVO 500GB,
    WD 4TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    WD 8TB Black FZBX - SATA III,
    DRW-24B1ST CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling 750W Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Cooler Master ATCS 840 Tower
    Cooling
    CM Hyper 212 EVO (push/pull)
    Keyboard
    Ducky DK9008 Shine II Blue LED
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-100
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox (latest)
    Antivirus
    Bitdefender Internet Security
    Other Info
    Speakers: Klipsch Pro Media 2.1
  • Operating System
    Windows XP Pro 32bit w/SP3
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Built by Ghot® (not in use)
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ (OC'd @ 3.2Ghz)
    Motherboard
    ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition
    Memory
    TWIN2X2048-6400C4DHX (2 x 1GB, DDR2 800)
    Graphics card(s)
    EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR GeForce 8600GT SSC
    Sound Card
    Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic G90FB Black 19" Professional (CRT)
    Screen Resolution
    up to 2048 x 1536
    Hard Drives
    WD 36GB 10,000rpm Raptor SATA
    Seagate 80GB 7200rpm SATA
    Lite-On LTR-52246S CD/RW
    Lite-On LH-18A1P CD/DVD Burner
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad EPS12V
    Case
    Generic Beige case, 80mm fans
    Cooling
    ZALMAN 9500A 92mm CPU Cooler
    Mouse
    Logitech Optical M-BT96a
    Keyboard
    Logitech Classic Keybooard 200
    Internet Speed
    300/300
    Browser
    Firefox 3.x ??
    Antivirus
    Symantec (Norton)
    Other Info
    Still assembled, still runs. Haven't turned it on for 13 years?
Or, and this is my personal favorite, run a HostOS (you are using linux), run virtualization, and in a VM run that OS or application from 20 years ago *like it just came out yesterday*.

Virtualization allows us to keep running the things that "just worked" back in the day, and you can pretty much run them forever. Want an MS os that doesn't harvest your data? Bring up that OS in a vm. Want to test the latest Linux os ... run it in a vm alongside all the others. All at once ... no dual-booting or other madness.

A bonus ... run that specific VM above, and then, because you can, run another half-dozen ... you'll finally get your machine's hardware resources *working for you*, at 40, 60, 80%, vs sitting idle.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    JustAboutEveryOS
I felt this should be a grey / dark blue appreciation thread. the main reason i stopped using Windows was when they discontinued the classic theme, no matter what color. but i totally prefer grey / dark blue. Windows has lost touch, unfortunately in more ways than just theme.

Windows has become bloat, anyone who knows will know. but thats tweakable, the GUI isnt. i had to use resource hacker in Windows 7 to get Windows how i wanted it to look. This is what prompted me to use Linux. I then strived for no GUI at all.

CLI only. this is a grey taskbar, dark blue titlebar moment. what happened. even windows XP made it so modern with the colors. but the dark theme isnt the same. we need grey and dark blue back. modern anything sucks, but dont mess with the theme of windows.

CLI is CLI, but you dont change a GUI. that is a whole culture. i moved operating systems becuase of this. can anyone else feel me here. this is a big deal. this is a whole culture big deal. we need grey / dark blue back as an option. we need classic theme back as an option.

i really like Windows, but dark theme is too modern. im not using a cell phone when on a desktop. Windows 95/98 had a whole culture, and it needs to be brought back. dark mode isnt good enough.

whos with me? i know im not the only one!
Totally disagree as you have lost sight of fact the point of an OS is to run programs efficiently - not to just look pretty.

Pretty is nice to have but a pretty poor reason to not use a fundamentally good OS like Windows 11.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Zenbook 14
    CPU
    I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB soldered
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop OLED screen
    Screen Resolution
    2880x1800 touchscreen
    Hard Drives
    1 TB NVME SSD (only weakness is only one slot)
    PSU
    Internal + 65W thunderbolt USB4 charger
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois (UK pint cans - 568 ml) - extra cost.
    Keyboard
    Built in UK keybd
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wireless dongled, wired
    Internet Speed
    900 mbs (ethernet), wifi 6 typical 350-450 mb/s both up and down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0, 2xUSB4 thunderbolt, 1xUsb3 (usb a), 1xUsb-c, hdmi out, 3.5 mm audio out/in combo, ASUS backlit trackpad (inc. switchable number pad)

    Macrium Reflect Home V8
    Office 365 Family (6 users each 1TB onedrive space)
    Hyper-V (a vm runs almost as fast as my older laptop)
Totally disagree as you have lost sight of fact the point of an OS is to run programs efficiently - not to just look pretty.

Pretty is nice to have but a pretty poor reason to not use a fundamentally good OS like Windows 11.
the whole issue is MS tried making the OS more mainstream and pretty, which eliminated the original look. The modern dark mode and even the colorful default XP theme was a way to make Windows more accessable and pretty looking for average people.

Windows 11 is also not as good as Windows 10 unless you remove all the bloat. Windows 11 is like Windows 8, Windows 10 is like Windows 7. W11 is a test mode for bloat features to be experimented on.

Windows 95/98 GUI didnt look pretty, it looked professional.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 27783
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel i7 7700 @4.0ghz
    Memory
    64gb DDR4
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon RX 5500 XT
    Other Info
    https://www.github.com/shoober420
  • Like
Reactions: WAI
the whole issue is MS tried making the OS more mainstream and pretty, which eliminated the original look. The modern dark mode and even the colorful default XP theme was a way to make Windows more accessable and pretty looking for average people.

Windows 11 is also not as good as Windows 10 unless you remove all the bloat. Windows 11 is like Windows 8, Windows 10 is like Windows 7. W11 is a test mode for bloat features to be experimented on.

Windows 95/98 GUI didnt look pretty, it looked professional.
Ridiculous!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro + Win11 Canary VM.
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Zenbook 14
    CPU
    I9 13th gen i9-13900H 2.60 GHZ
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB soldered
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    laptop OLED screen
    Screen Resolution
    2880x1800 touchscreen
    Hard Drives
    1 TB NVME SSD (only weakness is only one slot)
    PSU
    Internal + 65W thunderbolt USB4 charger
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois (UK pint cans - 568 ml) - extra cost.
    Keyboard
    Built in UK keybd
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wireless dongled, wired
    Internet Speed
    900 mbs (ethernet), wifi 6 typical 350-450 mb/s both up and down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0, 2xUSB4 thunderbolt, 1xUsb3 (usb a), 1xUsb-c, hdmi out, 3.5 mm audio out/in combo, ASUS backlit trackpad (inc. switchable number pad)

    Macrium Reflect Home V8
    Office 365 Family (6 users each 1TB onedrive space)
    Hyper-V (a vm runs almost as fast as my older laptop)

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