Up until around the time gmail was first released, it seemed like all the innovation and 'cool stuff computers can do' was in operating systems. Customisation w

Up until around the time gmail was first released, it seemed like all the innovation and 'cool stuff computers can do' was in operating systems. Customisation was super popular, people were sharing screenshots of their linux desktops and there were all kinds of theming features in Mac OS 9 and Windows 98. In Windows 98 you could have an HTML page as your desktop background. Stuff like Winamp skins were popular in desktop apps. I imagined that the internet would be woven into the OS in the future, and everything would have a customisable aesthetic. Also that we would have more advanced file explorer UIs.