I wish I could tweak Win 11 to look like Win 7. The only improvement since then was putting the Folder Up button back and adding tabs to Explorer, everything else is worse.
Exact same. That missing up button alone made me not like Windows 7, I didn’t realize how much I relied on it in xp. I have one pc that I keep Windows 11 on for work because there’s just too much niche software I need that only supports Windows, but everything else is Linux at this point.
Being comfortable with something is overrated, try new things and see what clicks for you. I never understood the “it’s what I’m used to” thing, that just drives me crazy because you are so aware of the issues and there’s never any excitement and interest of discovery. And I don’t mean that you need to change everything all the time, I very much have specific things that I go to great lengths to have but I have those because I’ve found them and nothing else has come close to feeling as good.
Trying new stuff is great - when you choose it. Random surprise tweaks that you’re forced to spend a while figuring out how to revert are pure fucking evil and everyone knows it.
What’s especially terrible is when people change stuff for the worse, then remove the old better option.
Lol, I grew up with the 98se theme and xp theme, and at this point i just think they're both incredibly ugly. Peak windows desktop prettiness and usability was windows 7 for me.
I used Royale Blue for ages, it was super easy to find the installer for and was signed by M$ so needed no UXTheme patch.
There was also Royale Noir and Royale Zune. Noir is a dark theme (Not to be confused with dark mode) and Zune, which was a different shade of black and sported an orange start button. Lastly there was also Royale Embedded which was a darker shade of blue, and had a blue Start button.
Honestly, 8 and 8.1 weren't bad visually (technically a whole different matter). I wouldn't mind making my WM resemble good old Windows 8, but actually has a sane technical base of Linux underneath it.
Yeah, Microsoft removed the Start Menu and added full screen tiles, that were widgets that updated with stuff (like news). I don't remember when the two 2 control panels things happened, Windows had always been a mess to me up to that point. It could've been sooner or later, because Windows was built with legacy support in mind.
Reminds me of this youtuber that fell for a scammer’s bait intentionally except he was in a VM of hannah montana linux. The scammer was so fucking confused haha
The left dock is Plank Reloaded and it tucks out of sight when stuff gets maximized. Same for the top bar too. The turtle in both of them is the applications menu. System font across everything is Inter, and the terminal font is Special Elite.
Indeed! Mostly cause I don’t really quite get how to replace the greeter. But I followed up with a separate comment written from my computer instead of my phone. :)
Well, first I tweak my windows to mimic the appearance of the windows that I liked, windows 7. Then I tweak my Linux to mimic that.
Just because hurr durr windows bad, doesn’t mean their huge team of UI and UX designers didn’t ever come up with a good design. And like most things Microsoft, I take pleasure in pirating it when I can.
I’m pretty much always picking XFCE or KDE over just a WM. In the case of KDE, I use it like Windows. I make XFCE as Unity-like as possible, which I believe is the best interface for limited screen real estate.
Win 7's interface was good for a number of reasons and that's why my UI looks even more like it than the stock Cinnamon themes, which are already a deliberate rip-off.
It was funny the first 5000 times I saw someone do it, but now it feels like I’m on a 5th date with someone who is still going on a monologue about epicly owning their bitch ex.
When all I had was a netbook with 1gb of ram and really weak intel atom cpu, I’ve done the same, not for estetic reasons (there was a qtcurve theme that looked like gray windows theme of win 2000 - but worse, but it was extremely configurable and with it netbook turned into something marginally usable with kde 4.x).
Having grown up with a Mac before OS X came out, I liked that I could make XFCE look a bit more like OS 9, but I haven’t been able to find a suitable equivalent for kde yet.
I might give a Windows 7 theme a try. As much as I hate Microsoft, I’ve been feeling unusually nostalgic for 7. That one was kind of peak for gaming.
I can’t do GNOME. I’ve tried multiple times over the last25 years. I am well past the point where I do heavy wild customizations to KDE etc. Some colored window decorations to make it easier to find the buttons. Change icons and pointers. Monolith MHL in the background. And a little jiggle physics. Some of that GNOME can do, but it will often fight you over it. For myself plasma just has less friction, literally and figuratively. Though to be honest I’m not familiar with the friction coefficient of a gnome.
I’ve heard some say the restrictiveness of GNOME makes them more productive. Poor bastards.
Well yes, but i always tweeked my windows to the point of breaking. Now i use mint and have reached the point where i love how it looks, everything works and i will likley sit with its current form for some years, maybe untill my kids are older and i have more time to waste again.
There’s nothing wrong with tuning your UI to match one you’re more comfortable with. Thats the beauty of Linux.
I wish I could tweak Win 11 to look like Win 7. The only improvement since then was putting the Folder Up button back and adding tabs to Explorer, everything else is worse.
There’s this project you could try in a vm classic7.lol
Exact same. That missing up button alone made me not like Windows 7, I didn’t realize how much I relied on it in xp. I have one pc that I keep Windows 11 on for work because there’s just too much niche software I need that only supports Windows, but everything else is Linux at this point.
Being comfortable with something is overrated, try new things and see what clicks for you. I never understood the “it’s what I’m used to” thing, that just drives me crazy because you are so aware of the issues and there’s never any excitement and interest of discovery. And I don’t mean that you need to change everything all the time, I very much have specific things that I go to great lengths to have but I have those because I’ve found them and nothing else has come close to feeling as good.
Trying new stuff is great - when you choose it. Random surprise tweaks that you’re forced to spend a while figuring out how to revert are pure fucking evil and everyone knows it.
What’s especially terrible is when people change stuff for the worse, then remove the old better option.
Windows 8… or Windows 11 😬
There is a scale of psychopathy…
XP, though? Hell yeah. I still miss that theme.
Lol, I grew up with the 98se theme and xp theme, and at this point i just think they're both incredibly ugly. Peak windows desktop prettiness and usability was windows 7 for me.
I disabled the UI stuff where it would look like Windows 2000 from XP until it stopped letting me. Different strokes, I guess.
gitgud.io/aeroshell/atp/aerothemeplasma
Put this thing in a VM and then let a scammer remote into it, see what he does.
98 SE.
XP or NT, I’d go back
Windows 95 blew my mind.
Then windows 98 preview also was amazeballs
The Media Center theme was a nice twist on the default XP theme I’ll admit.
I used Royale Blue for ages, it was super easy to find the installer for and was signed by M$ so needed no UXTheme patch.
There was also Royale Noir and Royale Zune. Noir is a dark theme (Not to be confused with dark mode) and Zune, which was a different shade of black and sported an orange start button. Lastly there was also Royale Embedded which was a darker shade of blue, and had a blue Start button.
Vista
vista and 7 both look really good, so thats fair
WindowsME
Psychopath
The Mountain Dew Baja blast of windows releases
Inexplicably beloved by furries?
… no hang on, that actually tracks.
XP
DOS
Honestly, 8 and 8.1 weren't bad visually (technically a whole different matter). I wouldn't mind making my WM resemble good old Windows 8, but actually has a sane technical base of Linux underneath it.
It was the one with the weird start menu wasn’t it? Also wasn’t it the one that they started adding the second duplicate ui in a half assed way?
Like where they ended up with 2 control panels
Yeah, Microsoft removed the Start Menu and added full screen tiles, that were widgets that updated with stuff (like news). I don't remember when the two 2 control panels things happened, Windows had always been a mess to me up to that point. It could've been sooner or later, because Windows was built with legacy support in mind.
Powershell
That’s one of the bad ones
Windows Me!
I tweak my linux so it becomes a prison for anyone that boots that isn’t me, we are not the same.
Reminds me of this youtuber that fell for a scammer’s bait intentionally except he was in a VM of hannah montana linux. The scammer was so fucking confused haha
Got a link?
“what in the fuck is a luks?”
That’s why I log in through tty. What comes next is anyone’s guess. Nerd wizardry.
If someone that isn’t me can competently use my computer I consider it a personal failing. Always open to tips
I tweak my Linux to look like TempleOS.
Do you have the routine that shuffles bible verses?
Of course, 3d sprites included.
What’s wrong with wanting a UI you’re used to?
Everyone wants other people to switch to Linux until they do literally anything a purist wouldn’t do with their own personal setup 😅
I went in the far opposite direction, I tried to make Mint look like an entirely fictional OS, of the sort that might be seen in a video game.
… well you can’t just say that and not provide screenshots, that sounds cool AF
The left dock is Plank Reloaded and it tucks out of sight when stuff gets maximized. Same for the top bar too. The turtle in both of them is the applications menu. System font across everything is Inter, and the terminal font is Special Elite.
Can’t really take a screenshot of my login screen.
…that’s just the default ubuntu greeter with a different background.
Indeed! Mostly cause I don’t really quite get how to replace the greeter. But I followed up with a separate comment written from my computer instead of my phone. :)
oh hey there we go! i recognise all the components and themes so it’s still familiar, but it’s unique which is nice.
if you really want it to feel like an alien os, give eagle mode a look. that one really wrinkles your brain.
🐢
might not be too good for turtles, no
hey don’t sleep on chicago95
nor aerothemeplasma
nor xfce-winxp-tc
The fuck? When opening the screenshots and scroll half way through the XFCE4 Screensaver lock screen my monitor starts blinking like crazy.
🎼when a grid’s misaligned with another behind
that’s a moiré
This, but I use the XP desktop image. I call it Winux. Let the hate flow through you.
Well, first I tweak my windows to mimic the appearance of the windows that I liked, windows 7. Then I tweak my Linux to mimic that.
Just because hurr durr windows bad, doesn’t mean their huge team of UI and UX designers didn’t ever come up with a good design. And like most things Microsoft, I take pleasure in pirating it when I can.
Goddamn it I still miss 7
IMO, Windows’s UI/UX might seem good only if you haven’t tried anything actually different. Tiling/scrolling WMs is the way.
I’m pretty much always picking XFCE or KDE over just a WM. In the case of KDE, I use it like Windows. I make XFCE as Unity-like as possible, which I believe is the best interface for limited screen real estate.
I use KDE because it looks like Windows 10… also gnome feet.
I love feet, but hate gnome 😞
meanwhile I’m over here making NixOS look like NeXTStep
I always loved the MacOS UI, so I emulate it in Linux. The visuals without the OS itself is just 👌
Win 7's interface was good for a number of reasons and that's why my UI looks even more like it than the stock Cinnamon themes, which are already a deliberate rip-off.
If that makes people think me a psycho, so be it.
Anyone with handwriting that meticulous is the real psycho
It was funny the first 5000 times I saw someone do it, but now it feels like I’m on a 5th date with someone who is still going on a monologue about epicly owning their bitch ex.
I tweak my Plasma to look like Gnome.
[deleted]
Looks at the GNOME users, "sad GNOME noises". It’s okay buddy, whatever works for you.
Okay that seems just straight up illegal.
I also tweak my Windows to mimic Linux
I call it OuroborOS
which linux? android? a smart fridge? a cars infotainment system? hannah montana linux? biebian? amogos?
Yes
I miss some of the explorer features. Specially right click dragging.
I also have some trouble balancing all the smaller storage devices that get used by programs.
I do bind Ctrl-E for a new file browser and Ctrl-D to show desktop which I picked up from Windows.
When all I had was a netbook with 1gb of ram and really weak intel atom cpu, I’ve done the same, not for estetic reasons (there was a qtcurve theme that looked like gray windows theme of win 2000 - but worse, but it was extremely configurable and with it netbook turned into something marginally usable with kde 4.x).
Well, does choosing Mint+Cinnamon for familiarity count?
only for gaming compatibility
Hey I argue that styling after Windows 7 isn’t bad.
I use Nightglow Blue that looks kinda like a dark mode Windows 7:
store.kde.org/p/2187004
Yes… but it’s really… WINDOWS 98.
Having grown up with a Mac before OS X came out, I liked that I could make XFCE look a bit more like OS 9, but I haven’t been able to find a suitable equivalent for kde yet.
I might give a Windows 7 theme a try. As much as I hate Microsoft, I’ve been feeling unusually nostalgic for 7. That one was kind of peak for gaming.
I use Windows from Scratch. I built all the bloatware and telemtry myself, god damn it!
I made my KDE desktop look like Windows 7 and I like it
I tweaked my NIRI WM to look like KDE
Where do I get my certificate?
This is one of the reasons i hate kde and love gnome
I can’t do GNOME. I’ve tried multiple times over the last25 years. I am well past the point where I do heavy wild customizations to KDE etc. Some colored window decorations to make it easier to find the buttons. Change icons and pointers. Monolith MHL in the background. And a little jiggle physics. Some of that GNOME can do, but it will often fight you over it. For myself plasma just has less friction, literally and figuratively. Though to be honest I’m not familiar with the friction coefficient of a gnome.
I’ve heard some say the restrictiveness of GNOME makes them more productive. Poor bastards.
“We tweaked your windows to mimic linux”
-Microslop, after windows 10
I tweak mine to mimic OS/2. It’s why I have a panel at the top of my screen to mimic the one in OS/2 Warp 4.
I tried doing this at first, but i just kept being frustrated every time something wasn’t like on windows…
Then i gave tiling managers (i3 specifically) a try…
Here I am now daily-driving Hyprland and writing custom ui with quickshell…
That’s no problem actually, given that Windows frequently copied KDE you’d just go full circle
I made WinTile for gnome. Gave me back quarter tiling.
I do this, but largely around customizable tiling, keyboard shortcuts, low to no animations, and RDP.
As far as actual -theme- that seems insane.
Well yes, but i always tweeked my windows to the point of breaking. Now i use mint and have reached the point where i love how it looks, everything works and i will likley sit with its current form for some years, maybe untill my kids are older and i have more time to waste again.
I like making mine look like “XP if I got to make it do what I want and have things like dark mode.”
I just miss the era :)
I tweaked to look like windows xp, loved the retro feeling