4 ms·

A Tribute to the Windows 3.1 “Hot Dog Stand” Color Scheme (2005)

31 points by ecliptik 4y ago

theandrewbailey 4y ago
The sad thing is that this blog post is older than Windows 3.1 was when this blog post was written.
- scionthefly 4y ago
  Oh, I'm...I'm going to need a minute.
  - vikingerik 4y ago
    Heck, Windows 95 is now closer to the Intel 4004 microprocessor than to today.
    - hulitu 4y ago
      And Windows 10 and eleven are closer to Windows 1.0 than Windows 95.
unethical_ban 4y ago
Born in the late 80s so I came of age with computing around 1996. I remember the first PC we had, intel 100MHz processor, 16MB RAM, 1GB hard drive, Windows 95. Dad paid almost $2000 in 1995 money for it, and it was a huge deal. I have to assume my fondness for this GUI is tied in with my personal nostalgia and memory of computing at that time: How mysterious and fun it was, clicking through the menus, wondering what the difference between a briefcase and a folder was, and trying to browse the network neighborhood. Of course, with the lack of connectivity and how niche the Internet was then, it was all so much less commercial, so much more naive. Magical.
AnIdiotOnTheNet 4y ago
Remember when theming options for computer interfaces were more than just a choice between bespoke "dark" and "light" modes? Computers are apparently not powerful enough to do that today. Go on, fire up Windows 95 in a VM and be utterly amazed at how responsive it is compared to your current Desktop and it has vastly more themeability. This is the future we have made for ourselves.
- hulitu 4y ago
  > Computers are apparently not powerful enough to do that today. Go on, fire up Windows 95 in a VM and be utterly amazed at how responsive it is compared to your current Desktop and it has vastly more themeability A long time ago computers were mostly used to run local, trusted, programs. Now they run remote, untrusted, code and this is considered a feature. And this remote code needs a powerful machine that's why the interface is kept to a minimum.
- LocutusOfBorges 4y ago
  It’s a situation where developers joylessly insist that a user’s preferences and control over the interface of the computer they use for hours each day aren’t a worthwhile thing to consider in application development, leading to efforts like the slow de-prioritisation and extinguishing of user-set theme support in GNOME. Enormous shame, really - there’s real value in customisation support.
- signaru 4y ago
  One of the reasons I like Linux and its window managers. Not only are current Windows themes limited, they also are inconsistent. It hurts my eyes to look at title bars staying white when everything else is in dark mode. That actually gave me a reason to purchase a WindowBlinds license and relive the 90s skinning craziness.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 4y ago
    You say that like Linux doesn't have its own issues of inconsistent GUIs. KDE offers lots of theming options but GNOME has majority and offers none. Also both toolkits today are still less responsive than Win32.
Tsiklon 4y ago
Why are computers so serious now? The mystery and the whimsy appears to have gone from all modern UI design. Lurid colour schemes like this are at fun and eye catching, even if the numbers of people who actually use it seriously was low, but are a simple way to demonstrate the configurability of your windowing/user interface toolkit
- WastingMyTime89 4y ago
  You can’t make an in-joke when there is no in-group anymore. Software could be whimsical when computer users were a small number and could be expected to have been familiarised with a culture where this sort of funny aside could be understood. No away everyone and their parents is using a computer. For most, it’s seen as something unavoidable but slightly baffling. You can’t expect these users to get it if you do something silly. It’s just going to create confusion.
1MachineElf 4y ago
Taking inspiration from that theme, there is also Hot Dog Linux: https://hotdoglinux.com/ https://hotdoglinux.com/
acheron 4y ago
Here's the rest of the Win3.1 color schemes: https://imgur.com/a/SsVYqM1 https://imgur.com/a/SsVYqM1
- tmtvl 4y ago
  That's quite interesting to see. I didn't have a colour monitor at the time when I was using Win3, only got one when I upgraded to Win98.
dr_kiszonka 4y ago
VScode users can enjoy this theme: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=somekittens.hot-dog-stand https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=somekitt... (I haven't tried it.)
- ramijames 4y ago
  "Enjoy"

31 points by ecliptik 4y ago

theandrewbailey 4y ago

The sad thing is that this blog post is older than Windows 3.1 was when this blog post was written.

scionthefly 4y ago
Oh, I'm...I'm going to need a minute.
- vikingerik 4y ago
  Heck, Windows 95 is now closer to the Intel 4004 microprocessor than to today.
  - hulitu 4y ago
    And Windows 10 and eleven are closer to Windows 1.0 than Windows 95.

unethical_ban 4y ago

Born in the late 80s so I came of age with computing around 1996. I remember the first PC we had, intel 100MHz processor, 16MB RAM, 1GB hard drive, Windows 95. Dad paid almost $2000 in 1995 money for it, and it was a huge deal. I have to assume my fondness for this GUI is tied in with my personal nostalgia and memory of computing at that time: How mysterious and fun it was, clicking through the menus, wondering what the difference between a briefcase and a folder was, and trying to browse the network neighborhood. Of course, with the lack of connectivity and how niche the Internet was then, it was all so much less commercial, so much more naive. Magical.

AnIdiotOnTheNet 4y ago

Remember when theming options for computer interfaces were more than just a choice between bespoke "dark" and "light" modes? Computers are apparently not powerful enough to do that today. Go on, fire up Windows 95 in a VM and be utterly amazed at how responsive it is compared to your current Desktop and it has vastly more themeability. This is the future we have made for ourselves.

hulitu 4y ago
> Computers are apparently not powerful enough to do that today. Go on, fire up Windows 95 in a VM and be utterly amazed at how responsive it is compared to your current Desktop and it has vastly more themeability A long time ago computers were mostly used to run local, trusted, programs. Now they run remote, untrusted, code and this is considered a feature. And this remote code needs a powerful machine that's why the interface is kept to a minimum.
LocutusOfBorges 4y ago
It’s a situation where developers joylessly insist that a user’s preferences and control over the interface of the computer they use for hours each day aren’t a worthwhile thing to consider in application development, leading to efforts like the slow de-prioritisation and extinguishing of user-set theme support in GNOME. Enormous shame, really - there’s real value in customisation support.
signaru 4y ago
One of the reasons I like Linux and its window managers. Not only are current Windows themes limited, they also are inconsistent. It hurts my eyes to look at title bars staying white when everything else is in dark mode. That actually gave me a reason to purchase a WindowBlinds license and relive the 90s skinning craziness.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 4y ago
  You say that like Linux doesn't have its own issues of inconsistent GUIs. KDE offers lots of theming options but GNOME has majority and offers none. Also both toolkits today are still less responsive than Win32.

Tsiklon 4y ago

Why are computers so serious now? The mystery and the whimsy appears to have gone from all modern UI design. Lurid colour schemes like this are at fun and eye catching, even if the numbers of people who actually use it seriously was low, but are a simple way to demonstrate the configurability of your windowing/user interface toolkit

WastingMyTime89 4y ago
You can’t make an in-joke when there is no in-group anymore. Software could be whimsical when computer users were a small number and could be expected to have been familiarised with a culture where this sort of funny aside could be understood. No away everyone and their parents is using a computer. For most, it’s seen as something unavoidable but slightly baffling. You can’t expect these users to get it if you do something silly. It’s just going to create confusion.

1MachineElf 4y ago

Taking inspiration from that theme, there is also Hot Dog Linux: https://hotdoglinux.com/ https://hotdoglinux.com/

acheron 4y ago

Here's the rest of the Win3.1 color schemes: https://imgur.com/a/SsVYqM1 https://imgur.com/a/SsVYqM1

tmtvl 4y ago
That's quite interesting to see. I didn't have a colour monitor at the time when I was using Win3, only got one when I upgraded to Win98.

dr_kiszonka 4y ago

VScode users can enjoy this theme: https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=somekittens.hot-dog-stand https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=somekitt... (I haven't tried it.)

ramijames 4y ago
"Enjoy"