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Web based Windows XP desktop recreation, built with React

582 points| fibo | 5 years ago |winxp.now.sh

148 comments

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dmix|5 years ago

This loads super fast on a phone and is very responsive.

Modern js done right can provide top tier interfaces. So many frontend let performance go by the way side when making interactive web apps.

And performance can also be UX, how things appear and the flow of the loading. Things like placeholder boxes [1] with the same size so the load isn’t janky is one good hack. The sort of thing you don’t have to care about with native apps.

[1] I’m on the fence about the value of loading icons in each placeholder, they’ll figure out something is loaded soon enough. Not need for the distraction or highlighting loading times. Errors for components are another matter.

Although of course server side rendering of everything is the ideal initial state.

anticristi|5 years ago

I think moat websites are built using the following algorithm:

  while (!website_crashes) {
    add_more_tracking()
    add_more_adds()
  }

ricksharp|5 years ago

Yeah, this is amazing. Works great even on iPhone.

Going to save this one for the next time someone says React is slow.

This worked instantly for me (just like my website, I wonder if they are using Gatsby or something else for static pre-rendering).

soulofmischief|5 years ago

My goto test: Does it crash my virtual machine?

Some of the most basic websites trigger a serious (and still unresolved after years...) bug where the rendering stutters to a halt until virt-manager and all my VM windows crash. Just basic landing pages with weird animated backgrounds, etc. Nothing rich.

This app? It works almost flawlessly with little jank and doesn't even stress my browser. And it has a much richer UX!

dmos62|5 years ago

I think that a reimplementation of a ~15 year old UI running on current hardware smoothly is not particularly indicative of whether or not the implementation or the software stack is efficient. It running smoothly is indicative of it being well suited for the hardware/stack it's being tested on, but that's not a high bar, especially for a 2d UI.

reificator|5 years ago

I am very disappointed in the lack of response from Explorer > Help > Is this copy of Windows legal?

Defenestresque|5 years ago

In a moment of serendipity, I was just finishing up a tiny project prompted by a moment of nostalgia: installing a Windows XP system under VirtualBox and getting the internet working on it.

I always had fond memories of Win2k and WinXP and I wanted to know if my feelings today would match what I remembered, or if I was just seeing the past through rose-coloured glasses.

I couldn't get IE to co-operate with modern browsing bar a few websites, I'm assuming this was to do with SSL. I did get Firefox 41 .0 working a few minutes ago and immediately went to HN to test it (as an easy https-enabled text-based website) only to find this to be the top post.

For those curious, clicking Help -> Is this copy of Windows legal? goes to a 404 [0] page in IE.

To answer my own question: Windows XP feels incredibly more user-friendly and accessible than the version of Windows 10 that I bailed from to Linux. I don't know how much of that is familiarity and how much is actual difference, though I did use Windows 10 far longer than I did Windows XP before finally deciding it's not working for me.

Why are there two control panels? Why do I have to move the mouse all over the screen to click something because the OS uses a weird mix of desktop-oriented and touchscreen-oriented design? Why do I have to dive into the guts of the system to disable the invasive features that track me and send my information to Microsoft?

Opening Windows Media Player prompted me with some privacy options such as obtaining licensing info and sending diagnostics back to Microsoft, each of which were clearly explained and had to be toggled on/off in the setup. It was so clearly out of the norm at the time that they went out of their way to make it visible. I feel like today it would not even warrant a mention, bar locales where that's required by law.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but with WinXP it feels like I own the system. The customer-merchant relationship is clear. I paid Microsoft money, they provided me with software and now I am using it. 15 years ago I never would have though to consider that a company whose software I use would be selling my personal data to figure out exactly what kind of ads I should see.

Using Windows 10 now feels like a constant battle between me and the company that sold me the software ("do you want to enable Cortana? can we send your keyboard input to our servers? can we update your system without permission unless you have an enterprise account? can we, can we, can we...")

I'm not RMS. I don't care if companies use binary blobs to distribute drivers or collect basic usage info without full disclosure. Yet I still feel the pendulum has swung too far and its momentum continues to push it in the same direction. In both UI design and privacy.

I'm glad that there are still a vocal group of enthusiastic people that are keeping the spirit of FOSS alive, but I'm concerned about the commoditization of our information.

Phew, sorry, I got really bloody off-topic. Great website! It didn't work on my WinXP VM under Firefox or IE but it did work on my Linux system. Congrats!

[0] https://i.imgur.com/M2NoHrt.png

hashtagmarkup|5 years ago

I was disappointed that winamp visualizations didn't work, especially considering milkdrop has already been ported to the web: https://webamp.org/

hiidrew|5 years ago

“Your computer might be at risk”

That extra detail made it very realistic.

lostgame|5 years ago

Came here to say this.

As soon as it popped up, I was like; oh, shit, yup - there it is.

WinAmp and it's fantastically on-point UI-mockup and functionality was also a super nice touch.

tbh I still use Windows XP SP3 in my VM on my Mac for the occasional Windows utility I need. It's super no-cruft and lightweight - especially as a VM - compared to anything since - and is surprisingly compatible. Because it's in a VM, I'm not too worried about the security issues, and most of the Windows-only utilities I use are fairly archaic anyway. (In computer years)

mulmen|5 years ago

I appreciate that it can only be dismissed. Clicking the bubble as asked does nothing.

badrequest|5 years ago

For me, it was the fading to grey when you hit "Shutdown"

ksrm|5 years ago

It just needs periodic "Messenger Service" popups to be 100% authentic.

martijnvds|5 years ago

That's another way to make "ReactOS" :)

ilrwbwrkhv|5 years ago

This still is one of the best ux. This and Windows 2000. Straight to the point and fast.

qwerty456127|5 years ago

By the way, what I find weird is NO Linux modification (DE/WM theme or whatever) marketed as a Windows XP (or Windows 98) clone ever actually looked close to the original - every single one looked a rough parody. I wish there were some really good...

Even today the default Raspbian LXDE could look less ugly if they could make taskbar-based launcher and tray icons slightly smaller (kind of like in Windows 95-XP) rather than 100% taskbar height, but they won't.

dmitshur|5 years ago

The information density in the UI was excellent. If you had a large display, you could fit many windows side-by-side.

gruez|5 years ago

I kinda like Vista more (in addition to 2000). Less fisher-price and oversaturated colors.

kilroy123|5 years ago

I prefer to use macOS over Windows or Linux, and I agree.

dmitrybrant|5 years ago

This is excellent, with the very minor detail of the fonts, which look a little off, and perhaps a little too anti-aliased? This seems to be the main issue with all web-based retro simulations of Windows 9x and XP. I'm guessing this is because the default font (Tahoma?) isn't freely licensed? Everything else is spot on, though!

kevingadd|5 years ago

Browser text rasterization isn't configurable enough to make text look like XP, even if you have the right font.

ww520|5 years ago

Run it at full screen and can't back to the browser view. All function keys are captured. Nice.

Now add Excel or Word to it. Running it at full screen would be a nice "I'm working hard" wallpaper for the people peeping over your shoulder.

alexdumitru|5 years ago

Is that possible? I can get out of fullscreen with no problem.

ngcc_hk|5 years ago

Does it run the Tetris with a key to show a spreadsheet that you are working

fredley|5 years ago

Very sad MSN Messenger did not open. This was still a hell of a nostalgia trip for me.

anthk|5 years ago

He could map it to a Jabber client. Or IRC.

qubex|5 years ago

Very pretty... but just about everything I wanted to try out (Control Panel to switch to the Classic interface, the Run command, Command Prompt) just gave generic “program not found” errors, which I understand, but which makes this little more than a tableaux—though indeed it is termed a ‘recreation’ and not an ‘emulation’, so maybe I was just hoping for too much.

Well done on the visuals, though. Very impressive.

anilakar|5 years ago

The sad part: It feels more snappy than my Windows 10 desktop it runs on.

iammiles|5 years ago

I was not expecting Paint to actually save my file, let alone paint. Bravo.

6510|5 years ago

I might actually need it for projects locked into its unique cheap look.

pseudosavant|5 years ago

I stumbled around their github and they have a project that I think is far more fun and interesting that even this great Windows XP clone. A bunch of very real looking fake screens: OS update that won't ever finish, crashed, Google Search that doesn't return any results. Check it out. This would be great for pranking co-workers, you know, if we could work in the same room...

https://github.com/ShizukuIchi/fake-screen

pachico|5 years ago

I couldn't contain a smile when I saw Winamp's interface :)

djtriptych|5 years ago

Same! I need to print up posters lol

ricardobeat|5 years ago

It is astonishing that so little has changed in almost 30 years. Despite visual differences, menus and windowing in general is almost exactly the same.

4gotunameagain|5 years ago

Joke's on you; I don't need this. At work I still frequently use a winXP box to compile stuff.

But, impressive and awesome :)

ChrisSD|5 years ago

I can somewhat understand having to compile for XP (it's been 20 years but... legacy, I get it). However compiling on XP must be hell.

Do you mind me asking what you do that requires this?

Xorlev|5 years ago

Paint et. all work too, what an incredible simulation! :)

djtriptych|5 years ago

Really nice. And seeing winamp running just instinctively made me smile. Computers used to be fun!

Stratoscope|5 years ago

Now this is fun. The S Pen on my Note 8 works in MS Paint!

I guess I shouldn't be surprised - it just treats it like a mouse - but it was neat to see.

https://imgur.com/a/R8rbdYZ

holler|5 years ago

Winamp!! Wow, talk about nostalgia... this is really cool. I just realized thankfully we don't really need to test websites against IE6+ anymore but if we did and the browser worked, this would be really useful! nice work.

jeroenhd|5 years ago

Not quite Win2k in the browser [0] but it's a pretty good simulation of Windows. Sounds like this would be a fun project for trying out new frameworks.

It's missing one feature that's been in Windows since 1.0: closing an application by clicking the top left (icon) in the task bar.

[0]: https://bellard.org/jslinux/vm.html?url=win2k.cfg&mem=192&gr...

contravariant|5 years ago

Finally a way to play the real solitaire!

brailsafe|5 years ago

This doesn't really seem to work on my OnePlus 3, but if I think about it, what part of this would emphasize React's performance characteristics? Aren't most things on the XP desktop just static images and buttons and so on?

That being said, the assets are spot on and visually it seems identical.

CornCobs|5 years ago

Paint has a "Render history as gif" function??? That is amazing! Or is this a new feature in paint?

l9k|5 years ago

I just spent an hour on minesweeper

csdreamer7|5 years ago

Memories. Really was sad to see XP go...

Maybe one day Microsoft will release it under the GPL (also would take the Mozilla Public License or the Eclipse Public License).

Of course, even if the code was released, getting the theme released is a different matter.

tracyhenry|5 years ago

Nice work! I wonder how much effort did it take to get the the correct web layout and css styles?

With React it seems like the logic should be simpler to implement (assuming there isn't much change to WinAmp and JSPaint).

stanislavb|5 years ago

I love that there's a Winamp with playable music. Such a joy.

ziggystardust|5 years ago

Honestly, windows XP is still a better interface than windows 10.

anonymfus|5 years ago

I like how unimplemented menu items in your Notepad clone are grayed out as disabled, I would love to see this principle implemented in the rest of this art piece.

emilsedgh|5 years ago

How much work was put into this it's impressive!

coupdejarnac|5 years ago

This gives me the feeling I think I would have on a holodeck- everything is superficially very realistic if you don't dig too deep.

jaytaylor|5 years ago

Does this work for anyone on mobile? When I try to click on things it doesn't seem to register, for example- the start button.

joshspankit|5 years ago

I’m on an ipad, and yes. Not perfect but decent. Paint recognizes touches. Have to quickly double-tap the start button, but other than that it works

codazoda|5 years ago

Same problems on my Pixel 3a. Looks pretty accurate. This must have been a significant labor of love.

jmnicolas|5 years ago

I wish you had a functioning Internet Explorer, a browser running inside a browser, but yeah I expect it would be tremendous work!

mszcz|5 years ago

Oh, I thought that's actually how it's supposed to be. You could never browse the internet with Internet Explorer ;))

pxi|5 years ago

Oh no, my computer might be at risk! So that's what I missed out on when I switched to linux :) (Fantastic effort guys)

szszrk|5 years ago

Wow, a fast winamp, like it used to be. It even collapses to those tiny little menu and can use skins. Pure awesomeness.

mrlambchop|5 years ago

I didn't realize that I needed half an hour therapy from playing minesweeper, yet I feel so much better now.

Nice work ShizukuIchi!

stareatgoats|5 years ago

Wow - that's impressive! Now all you need to implement is the file explorer interface on top of indexedDB ...

idktech|5 years ago

This is something else! Great job!!!

nojvek|5 years ago

“Anything that can be built in a browser will be built in a browser”

Not sure who said that but I love that quote.

bishala|5 years ago

Really very impressive. The applications like Paint, Notepad etc. actually work! WOW!

dpedu|5 years ago

Somehow, this feels more snappy and responsive than my native OS. Bravo.

ineedasername|5 years ago

Sadly it's not all functional yet: I couldn't play spades.

nojvek|5 years ago

This brought back so many memories. Thanks for building this.

anta40|5 years ago

Very nicely done.

But wait... can't open any page on IE? And no cmd.exe?

:)

aplummer|5 years ago

What an os. Less is more for the start bar

onion-soup|5 years ago

XP was such an aesthetically pleasing OS.

rawoke083600|5 years ago

Lol windows has never felt faster ! :D

tomcat27|5 years ago

So many memories from school days!!

scared2|5 years ago

So beautiful. Good job.

zeptonix|5 years ago

Absolutely amazing!

gao8a|5 years ago

NO PINBALL?!?!

Other than that well done :)

skee0083|5 years ago

I love windows xp. always have and still find it eaiser and more intuitive than windows 10. I encourage everyone to donate and support reactOS. It's our only hope for a sane open source OS.

vaccinator|5 years ago

Who would get Windows XP when you can have Windows 2000? (not kidding)

known|5 years ago

You may want to install/configure xcompmgr -cCfF -r7 -o.65 -l-10 -t-8 -D7 for rendering good looking fonts in Linux;

osipov|5 years ago

[deleted]

timonoko|5 years ago

Office Droids are rejoicing. I do not get any this, because (pirated) Window 95 was the last one, as Linux was quite complete already.

timonoko|5 years ago

I love when the Downvoting Crew finds something they dont like and then go back in history to downvote something totally unrelated and mundane.

Dalrymple|5 years ago

Windows XP is reportedly the last version of Windows where Bill Gates played a key role in its creation and quality control – something he was very good at. In my view he should return to this job and stop listening to the Melinda Gates and Lorraine Jobs of the world encouraging him to work on saving the universe when Windows has been going downhill ever since he left.

If Bill were to start with a Windows XP sp3 base, here are a bakers dozen of tasks to get him and his new software team started. I am calling this new product Windows XP-TNG for now. Feel free to add to this list:

1. WinXP-TNG should be 64 bit only, at the same level of reliability or better as Win XP 32 bit. Support for disks larger than 2tb and main memory greater than 4gb.

2. USB 3 support.

3. Investigate if and how this 48 bit address business could be expanded to the full 64 bits.

4. DirectX 12 support

5. Directory printer option (like the best add-on utilities provide)

6. Print to PDF file print driver (better than the best add-on utilities provide)

7. Integrate the old Office 2003 into Windows XP-TNG without separate activation. Customers that really want a newer Office would buy a Cloud version or the Windows 10 native app.

8. Integrate a “cleaner” utility that would remove any malware from PDF, and, if needed, epub files.

9. Deleted file recovery (beyond restore points). Search entire disk and rebuild desired directory entries functionality (much better than the best add-on utilities provide).

10. One button setup of “classic” Win 95/2000 options and developer settings like View-Details.

11. Fix bug that causes large, say 1tb file transfers, with Copy-Paste to fail. Drag-and-Drop works ok.

12. Long-term bug fixing and cybersecurity support.

13. Option for automatic registry backups, user can delay and specify number of backups before recycling.

simonklitj|5 years ago

I feel like billionaires can't win, whatever they do.

thotsBgone|5 years ago

Yeah, Bill Gates should stop saving thousands of lives and instead fix a few bugs in Windows 10.