XFCE is pretty complete and can be tweaked into just about any retro desktop experience you want--i.e. you can make a panel feel like a start menu and task bar,

XFCE is pretty complete and can be tweaked into just about any retro desktop experience you want--i.e. you can make a panel feel like a start menu and task bar, or sit in the middle like a dock, have both a dock and top bar panel, etc. If you really want you can also tweak some settings to totally disable antialiasing and switch to bitmap font rendering. On modern semi-high DPI displays (like a 14" 1920x1080 panel) it isn't that great though as most bitmap fonts are far too small to be readable (~8-12 pixels tall). For the most crisp and clear text, even crisper than old bitmap stuff, you really want a high DPI display in the 4k+ range. Try using a modern mac and you will be blown away at how clear and sharp the text renders.