9 ms·

Chicago95: A rendition of everyone's favorite 1995 MS operating system for Linux

40 points by ghostoftiber 5y ago

VariableStar 5y ago
Not my favourite, but you already know: "De gustibus non est disputandum" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_gustibus_non_est_disputandum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_gustibus_non_est_disputandu...)
jjgreen 5y ago
Speak for yourself, my favourite 1995 Microsoft operating system was MSDOS 6.21
- lostgame 5y ago
  Mine was Microsoft Bob. :P
  - jjgreen 5y ago
    Gates anticipated the Metaverse but was 37 years ahead of his time :-)
  - Bluecobra 5y ago
    Lucky! I was stuck with Packard Bell Navigator. Microsoft Bob would have been a step up from that heaping pile of garbage. The first thing I learned how to do on that computer was to disable it on startup and boot directly into Win95.
teakettle42 5y ago
I’ve always found Windows 9x / 2000 to be unfathomably ugly, whereas macOS of the same era seemed clean and well-designed. Is it a question of learned taste, having grown up on the Mac? Or do Windows users have a similar view despite the nostalgia?
- ianai 5y ago
  I think it's more a question of "can they do it?" versus "should they do it?" Edit-and of course Win95 had the famous reactions of people mobbing through stores for it. The reaction itself was fanatic for those times. But also, I grew up with 95/98 and never had the money for a Mac until college. For me, the G4 Cube or the Lampshade iMac were both wild form factors wildly out of my range. Not helped by building my own gaming machines around those times and going the linux direction. i.e. I think those Mac OSes might benefit from having not been obtainable and thus desirable. For sorta similar reasons, I and others might be hoping Haiku OS gains traction/a commercial application some day. Having said all that, this looks really well done.
- CodeMage 5y ago
  I grew up with smaller micros, like ZX Spectrum 48k and Commodore 64, then I got my first PC and it ran DOS. I started using Windows 3.0 when it came out, and I've been a Windows user ever since. I tried Linux desktop a few times, but couldn't get used to it. I've never had a Mac, so I can't answer that part of your question, but I can give you my views on Windows GUI. I find Windows 9x to be ugly now. Back then, I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Like I said, I didn't have a Mac, but I tried OS/2 Warp, and I hated it. I think the Windows 9x nostalgia stems from the absolute usability fustercluck we have these days. Back then, the GUI was uniform -- you didn't have to guess which element did what for each app -- and it communicated clearly. You always knew if a toggle was on or off, if a button was pressed or not, etc. When a dialog popped up to open a file, a single Shift+Tab would take you to the file list, instead of silently and invisibly putting the focus on the list headers. You could move your mouse around without "helpful" hints popping up everywhere. I would happily go back to these "obsolete" ideas of consistent and concise GUI design, but it won't happen. People have been harping on about this for years now, and things aren't improving. It's just not a priority, I guess.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
    > I think the Windows 9x nostalgia stems from the absolute usability fustercluck we have these days. Back then, the GUI was uniform -- you didn't have to guess which element did what for each app -- and it communicated clearly. You always knew if a toggle was on or off, if a button was pressed or not, etc. Yeah, it has a lot less to do with aesthetics than it does with consistency and functionality. GUIs of today have regressed so significantly in these regards it's downright disgraceful.
jonathankoren 5y ago
I’m old enough to remember when fvwm95 was earnestly beloved to be key to bringing Linux to the desktop
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  Linux Desktop evangelists could never get their head out of their ass enough to bother trying to truly understand why people didn't want to use Linux, so they kept coming up with stuff like this. They sincerely seemed to believe that looking like Windows was enough, or having a set of default applications was enough, or being able to run a web browser was enough, etc. Now that none of that has worked, they've chosen to believe it is because Linux isn't installed by default on new PCs. Anything to avoid admitting the existence of real issues that people actually have I guess.
  - jonathankoren 5y ago
    All valid points, and TBF, the obstacles to adoption that advocates identified were/are legitimate. The truth is, people don’t care about GNU/Freedom or whatever they’re OS is. They just want things to work. Ironically, Linux has made it to the desktop. It’s ChromeOS.
perihelions 5y ago
202 additional comments here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30474690 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30474690 ("Make Linux look like Windows 95")
AtlasBarfed 5y ago
Props for "total conversion", which reminded me of the Doom->Aliens Total Conversion of ... 1995!
buescher 5y ago
It's 2022, software is free, you can have anything you want, and you want Windows 95. I'm going to go sulk about human nature for a while.
- vikingerik 5y ago
  People legitimately like and consume music that is 60 years old, cars that are 50, movies that are 40, Nintendo games that are 30. Why not an operating system?
  - tsywke44 5y ago
    windows 95 looked the way it did, not because the people making it thought it was the optimal look, but due to hardware limitations. A designer in 1995 seeing you waste a modern 4k LCD monitor’s potential to display blurry low res 256 color icons? They would think you are clinically insane.
    - blibble 5y ago
      256 colours? more like 16!
    - mmcgaha 5y ago
      Windows 95 was great not because of the icons, colors, or anything like that. It was great because the UI was consistent and intuitive. There were a few weird things in there like the briefcase but for the most part it was just enough UI and software to be really effective without getting in the way.
    - vikingerik 5y ago
      So playing NES Super Mario Bros on that monitor would be clinical insanity, because it could be playing a modern Switch game instead?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
mrlonglong 5y ago
I thought Windows 11 is beautiful, why not emulate that instead ?
- wtallis 5y ago
  Because user interfaces are supposed to be usable, too. Being pretty is not sufficient to make it a good UI. Windows 11 isn't as profoundly misguided as Windows Vista was, but the most notable UI changes in 11 are pretty much all detrimental to usability. Or to put it another way, a good UI must not ignore the second half of "look and feel".
mysterydip 5y ago
Last week I did a clean install of xubuntu and added Chicago95 after seeing it on HN. Some impressions so far: - Their setup script/app makes the whole process very easy. I'm sure earlier on it was a bit rough to make all the changes, but it was very smooth now. I especially liked the nod with the classic 95 setup background picture (the old blue CD's etc). - Some parts feel right at home. I like the terminal, even giving the option of having a "C:" prompt at the start of the path. - Icons match things well for the default software, and there's a large catalog of icons you can use for your other apps. - The start menu obviously isn't perfect, but it's a "good enough" mix between the theme and usability. Likewise file manager isn't 100%, but the icons and overall look give enough of the theme that I don't care. - One thing I haven't got working yet was the "make your modern browser look like netscape navigator", which was disappointing. I'm using firefox but also tried the epiphany browser which I read somewhere was supposed to work with it. I'll try that more later. Overall I'm having a lot of fun with it. It's not for everyone (as the comments here make clear), but for me it's a simpler interface with a lot of nostalgia for a time when I just "got things done", so I'm happy to use it in my hobby gamedev projects to get me in the zone.
manifoldgeo 5y ago
For some great, dark Windows 95 jokes I recommend this site: https://windows95tips.com/ https://windows95tips.com/ It was made by Neil Cicierega of Lemon Demon, who has made a lot of amazing content.

40 points by ghostoftiber 5y ago

Not my favourite, but you already know: "De gustibus non est disputandum" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_gustibus_non_est_disputandum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_gustibus_non_est_disputandu...)

jjgreen 5y ago

Speak for yourself, my favourite 1995 Microsoft operating system was MSDOS 6.21

lostgame 5y ago
Mine was Microsoft Bob. :P
- jjgreen 5y ago
  Gates anticipated the Metaverse but was 37 years ahead of his time :-)
- Bluecobra 5y ago
  Lucky! I was stuck with Packard Bell Navigator. Microsoft Bob would have been a step up from that heaping pile of garbage. The first thing I learned how to do on that computer was to disable it on startup and boot directly into Win95.

teakettle42 5y ago

I’ve always found Windows 9x / 2000 to be unfathomably ugly, whereas macOS of the same era seemed clean and well-designed. Is it a question of learned taste, having grown up on the Mac? Or do Windows users have a similar view despite the nostalgia?

ianai 5y ago
I think it's more a question of "can they do it?" versus "should they do it?" Edit-and of course Win95 had the famous reactions of people mobbing through stores for it. The reaction itself was fanatic for those times. But also, I grew up with 95/98 and never had the money for a Mac until college. For me, the G4 Cube or the Lampshade iMac were both wild form factors wildly out of my range. Not helped by building my own gaming machines around those times and going the linux direction. i.e. I think those Mac OSes might benefit from having not been obtainable and thus desirable. For sorta similar reasons, I and others might be hoping Haiku OS gains traction/a commercial application some day. Having said all that, this looks really well done.
CodeMage 5y ago
I grew up with smaller micros, like ZX Spectrum 48k and Commodore 64, then I got my first PC and it ran DOS. I started using Windows 3.0 when it came out, and I've been a Windows user ever since. I tried Linux desktop a few times, but couldn't get used to it. I've never had a Mac, so I can't answer that part of your question, but I can give you my views on Windows GUI. I find Windows 9x to be ugly now. Back then, I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread. Like I said, I didn't have a Mac, but I tried OS/2 Warp, and I hated it. I think the Windows 9x nostalgia stems from the absolute usability fustercluck we have these days. Back then, the GUI was uniform -- you didn't have to guess which element did what for each app -- and it communicated clearly. You always knew if a toggle was on or off, if a button was pressed or not, etc. When a dialog popped up to open a file, a single Shift+Tab would take you to the file list, instead of silently and invisibly putting the focus on the list headers. You could move your mouse around without "helpful" hints popping up everywhere. I would happily go back to these "obsolete" ideas of consistent and concise GUI design, but it won't happen. People have been harping on about this for years now, and things aren't improving. It's just not a priority, I guess.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
  > I think the Windows 9x nostalgia stems from the absolute usability fustercluck we have these days. Back then, the GUI was uniform -- you didn't have to guess which element did what for each app -- and it communicated clearly. You always knew if a toggle was on or off, if a button was pressed or not, etc. Yeah, it has a lot less to do with aesthetics than it does with consistency and functionality. GUIs of today have regressed so significantly in these regards it's downright disgraceful.

jonathankoren 5y ago

I’m old enough to remember when fvwm95 was earnestly beloved to be key to bringing Linux to the desktop

AnIdiotOnTheNet 5y ago
Linux Desktop evangelists could never get their head out of their ass enough to bother trying to truly understand why people didn't want to use Linux, so they kept coming up with stuff like this. They sincerely seemed to believe that looking like Windows was enough, or having a set of default applications was enough, or being able to run a web browser was enough, etc. Now that none of that has worked, they've chosen to believe it is because Linux isn't installed by default on new PCs. Anything to avoid admitting the existence of real issues that people actually have I guess.
- jonathankoren 5y ago
  All valid points, and TBF, the obstacles to adoption that advocates identified were/are legitimate. The truth is, people don’t care about GNU/Freedom or whatever they’re OS is. They just want things to work. Ironically, Linux has made it to the desktop. It’s ChromeOS.

perihelions 5y ago

202 additional comments here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30474690 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30474690 ("Make Linux look like Windows 95")

AtlasBarfed 5y ago

Props for "total conversion", which reminded me of the Doom->Aliens Total Conversion of ... 1995!

buescher 5y ago

It's 2022, software is free, you can have anything you want, and you want Windows 95. I'm going to go sulk about human nature for a while.

vikingerik 5y ago
People legitimately like and consume music that is 60 years old, cars that are 50, movies that are 40, Nintendo games that are 30. Why not an operating system?
- tsywke44 5y ago
  windows 95 looked the way it did, not because the people making it thought it was the optimal look, but due to hardware limitations. A designer in 1995 seeing you waste a modern 4k LCD monitor’s potential to display blurry low res 256 color icons? They would think you are clinically insane.
  - blibble 5y ago
    256 colours? more like 16!
  - mmcgaha 5y ago
    Windows 95 was great not because of the icons, colors, or anything like that. It was great because the UI was consistent and intuitive. There were a few weird things in there like the briefcase but for the most part it was just enough UI and software to be really effective without getting in the way.
  - vikingerik 5y ago
    So playing NES Super Mario Bros on that monitor would be clinical insanity, because it could be playing a modern Switch game instead?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

mrlonglong 5y ago

I thought Windows 11 is beautiful, why not emulate that instead ?

wtallis 5y ago
Because user interfaces are supposed to be usable, too. Being pretty is not sufficient to make it a good UI. Windows 11 isn't as profoundly misguided as Windows Vista was, but the most notable UI changes in 11 are pretty much all detrimental to usability. Or to put it another way, a good UI must not ignore the second half of "look and feel".

mysterydip 5y ago

Last week I did a clean install of xubuntu and added Chicago95 after seeing it on HN. Some impressions so far: - Their setup script/app makes the whole process very easy. I'm sure earlier on it was a bit rough to make all the changes, but it was very smooth now. I especially liked the nod with the classic 95 setup background picture (the old blue CD's etc). - Some parts feel right at home. I like the terminal, even giving the option of having a "C:" prompt at the start of the path. - Icons match things well for the default software, and there's a large catalog of icons you can use for your other apps. - The start menu obviously isn't perfect, but it's a "good enough" mix between the theme and usability. Likewise file manager isn't 100%, but the icons and overall look give enough of the theme that I don't care. - One thing I haven't got working yet was the "make your modern browser look like netscape navigator", which was disappointing. I'm using firefox but also tried the epiphany browser which I read somewhere was supposed to work with it. I'll try that more later. Overall I'm having a lot of fun with it. It's not for everyone (as the comments here make clear), but for me it's a simpler interface with a lot of nostalgia for a time when I just "got things done", so I'm happy to use it in my hobby gamedev projects to get me in the zone.

manifoldgeo 5y ago

For some great, dark Windows 95 jokes I recommend this site: https://windows95tips.com/ https://windows95tips.com/ It was made by Neil Cicierega of Lemon Demon, who has made a lot of amazing content.