←back to thread

98.css – design system for building faithful recreations of Windows 98 UIs

(jdan.github.io)
838 points bennettfeely | 7 comments | 21 Apr 20 23:51 UTC | HN request time: 1.41s | source | bottom
Show context
atum47 ◴[22 Apr 20 04:30 UTC] No.22942201[source]▶
that's really gorgeous. I find windows 95 aesthetics a master piece. I'm not gonna lie, I thought about windows 95 when I was creating FOS, my Fake Operational System "framework".

I'm thinking about refactoring it and I'll may incorporate windows color scheme to it. Here's the link if you wanna see what I am talking about.

https://github.com/victorqribeiro/fos

replies(3): >>22942674 #>>22943580 #>>22943744 #
cm2187 ◴[22 Apr 20 09:04 UTC] No.22943580[source]▶
Fashion is cyclical. At one point people will get bored of these ambiguous modern UI with hidden fields and gestures, and made of 50 shades of light grey that only a calibrated display can render with any discernable contrast. And we will rediscover the merit of clear and explicit UIs, and Apple will claim it just invented it!
replies(3): >>22943660 #>>22944005 #>>22944459 #
1. schrijver ◴[22 Apr 20 09:19 UTC] No.22943660[source]▶
I wouldn’t be surprised :) The Windows 95 aesthetic is already back into fashion, I see it a lot on flyers, web art… just not yet in computer applications! I guess that’s a matter of time. Check out the flyer for this party: https://highclouds.org/highclouds-online-antivirus-party-mag...

They used vectors, looks like the Windows 95 aesthetics that was so connected to pixel survives this transition quite well!

replies(4): >>22943773 #>>22944412 #>>22944587 #>>22945523 #
2. squiggleblaz ◴[22 Apr 20 09:35 UTC] No.22943773[source]▶
That's later than Windows 95 - maybe 98 or 2000. Windows 95 didn't support gradient titlebars.
replies(2): >>22944143 #>>22945362 #
3. xattt ◴[22 Apr 20 10:37 UTC] No.22944143[source]▶
Gradient titlebars were the killer feature for Windows 98.
4. lucideer ◴[22 Apr 20 11:27 UTC] No.22944412[source]▶
> already back into fashion

That seems more like retro/throwback fashion (which is always a thing, in every era) than the fundamental principles of that aesthetic being incorporated into modern design (which is what I would typically consider actually being "in fashion").

Still, nice to consider we're at the point where that's what we're framing as retro. No longer is it System 1 or CRT terminals.

5. bartread ◴[22 Apr 20 11:55 UTC] No.22944587[source]▶
> The Windows 95 aesthetic is already back into fashion

It's certainly big in vaporwave and, to some extent, synthwave. Obviously both genres of music but also, and particularly the former, very strong aesthetics.

6. nobleach ◴[22 Apr 20 13:36 UTC] No.22945362[source]▶
Some of us replaced our GDI.EXE, GDI32.DLL, SHELL.DLL, etc and installed TweakUI.exe to get those Windows 98 features a year or so earlier....

Then again, I was a Memphis beta tester (legitimately, not the "I found these rars on a warez site" variety of "beta tester") So I "enjoyed" some of those features pretty early on.

7. andrepd ◴[22 Apr 20 13:52 UTC] No.22945523[source]▶
That's vaporwave, a specific aesthetic style, and it's quite different from Win98 design making a mainstream comeback :p