/retro/ - Y2K

I think that Win2K was the peak of computing, it's functionally the same as XP only it has a more serious appearance. If there were a way to use it in the modern age without being gimped to hell and back I'd still use it.

In terms of board-relevant OSes, XP. That's where I had most of my early internet adventures, anyway. I used 98 and even 3.1 back in the 90s, but my 3.1 machine lacked internet capability and I was almost never allowed online (like, once or twice a year) when we got a 98 box. So I spent most of my time then playing games off shovelware CDs.

I wanted to mess with Linux back in the 00s, but I never had a spare computer/drive to put it on and was afraid of losing data by setting up a dual boot. At least I could rice the shit out of my XP box with bbLean to look like the cool kids. Nowadays I just use a simple Linux setup without much rice.

Debian reinvigorated my interest in computers and I wouldn't use another distro unless it went to shit. Nostalgia wise XP was what I used during my own subjective 'golden era' of the internet and I wish things were more like then than they are now.

>>2103
>not using XP with the Green or Royale skin

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>>2106
green was fugly, silver/chrome was the shit

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I can't choose between the Windows 9x systems or Windows XP with the Luna theme when it comes to aesthetics. My first experience with computers was using one that I think had been upgraded to Windows 95 from DOS, and my family upgraded to 98 and XP when they came out. I also remember using Windows Me in school and at my friend's house. 

XP is my favorite of the classic operating systems as far as usability is concerned. I first started using the Internet with Windows 98 but didn't really get into the Internet hardcore until the XP era.

Thinking about all this just makes me wish ReactOS was viable as a replacement for Windows 10.

>>2108
>Thinking about all this just makes me wish ReactOS was viable as a replacement for Windows 10.
Best case scenario is that ReactOS becomes like FreeDOS, an updated replacement OS for old as shit computers performing mission critical tasks that rely on ancient proprietary software. It's unlikely to have feature parity with the latest Windows at any point in the future (moving target after all).

I run OpenBSD.
If you run it and avoid GUI software and software not written in C unless there is no alternative, it's a pleasant computing experience.

>>2105
Debian went to shit over 10 years ago pal.

>>2108
Pixel art icons were the best. 3.x, 9x, 2000, classic Mac, all of them were just so nice to look at.

>>2110
>Debian went to shit over 10 years ago pal.
I'd be interested to know why you think so. I wasn't using it back then so I wouldn't know.

>>2109
I'm just hoping at some point it becomes equivalent in usability to the 64-bit edition of Windows XP. That's clearly unlikely to happen anytime soon though.
>>2111
Definitely.

>>2108
Did you use the classic theme with XP? I didn't care for the luna theme and classic made it mostly look like 2000/9x.

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Windows 7 (technically still the 2000s) > XP > 98 > 95
Anyone else remembers Comic Chat? I spent hours playing with this shit on Win 95.

Windows 7 is my all-time favorite, but I personally don't consider it /retro/ because I used it from 2010 to 2020, so I'll have to say Windows XP. I used XP daily from around 2002 to 2007, and it was the OS where I learned most of my foundational knowledge regarding computers, software, internet, etc. Earlier this year I even dug out and upgraded an old Pentium 4-based XP machine I've had lying around for years just for fun/nostalgia purposes. It surprised me how usable it still is, at least provided I give it enough RAM and go back to being very conservative with multi-tasking. If push came to shove, I could probably still use it as my main OS, which is a comforting thought.

I have fond memories of Windows 95 too, but we didn't have internet back then and I was too young at that time to really do anything besides play games and click on random shortcuts, so I didn't get the most out of it like I did with XP.

>>2117
I vaguely remember messing around with it as a kid, but I don't think I realized it was supposed to be an online chat thing due to not having internet. I remember being at my older cousin's house around 1997/1998 and watching him use some kind of instant messenger to talk to one of his friends, and I remember being confused as to how this was even possible. Even the fact they were using psuedonyms like "Alien" kinda freaked me out.

>>2116
Yeah, I used to switch between those two but mainly stuck with the classic Windows look. My problem with Luna is that it's such a specific look that it can look pretty bad if you don't have a desktop background that you know will look good with it. The 9x look is a lot more understated.
>>2117
I can't see that without immediately thinking of Jerk City.

>>2112
systemd, pulseaudio, the tranny takeover...

>>2120
Those aren't Debian-specific issues though; those are problems with most mainstream Linux distributions.

>>2120
>>2121
Heck Pulse is optional (mostly anyway but there are wrappers IIRC) and Devaun exists if you really don't like Systemd. As for that last one only 2 members in the head Officers group have female names (https://www.debian.org/intro/organization) but no idea what their situation is. According to https://contributors.debian.org it's mostly dudes also.

>>2103
If you like the classic windows look and fell, I'd probably just use Linux+XFCE+Chicago95 theme. With DOSBox and Wine, you could probably use many of the older applications too, while having access to newer opensource applications.

>>2103
>If there were a way to use it in the modern age without being gimped to hell and back I'd still use it.
There are ways to extend it's functionality. This website has a collection of files that you can install to extend it's capabilities to even be able to possibly install some XP applications.
>>2103'>https://i430vx.net/files/Win2k/>>2103

>>2120
>Systemd
Install Devuan

>pulseaudio
Replace it with something else

>the tranny takeover
How does this affect Debian?

My favorite OS is XP though I wish MS had gone with the Whistler look. I'm also fond of Vista as I feel it was the last time they tried to be ambitious. Haiku/BeOS is the best looking though I've never used it.

>>2110
I am using it aswell. I like its simplicity.

I am new here and i was like "retro OS"? This is my place! Then i went and read the posts and it was like OS=windows. So let me mention all the OS i have used so far, maybe you will find some interesting.

I started with DOS 5.0, then Win3.1, but after a year i have switched quickly to 95, then to 98, and to 98SE, which i used for a long period of time.
I have experimented with some linux then, but i never found it enjoyable.
Then in the last sec i have met with BeOS before Be Inc. went down, and used BeOS for a very long time. But i had to use some windows-only applications, so i multibooted.
For education i had to switch to WindowsXP on win front, and also upgraded to Zeta on BeOS front.
Then there was a short lived QNX 6.4 install, still with the classic Photon GUI. Also made an errand in the OS/2 world. Then there was a period where i have spent plenty years to hop from one OS to the next to find the ONE. But i haven't.
Then i started to hackintosh and used mac from 10.4 - 10.10 or so, but it went really downhill after SL.
After this i jumped to Haiku and running still today, but in the beginning it wasn't able to support me as main OS, so had to looks for a companion OS, so distrohopped almost every major and small linux distribution, but it felt like nothing changed in linux distributions in the past 20 years since i first met with linux (ok, configuring X wasn't a thing anymore, but can't really mention any positive change other than this). Then i had a long-living FreeBSD install, but then i have switched to OpenBSD and i think i can call myself happy now.
Of course there was plenty other small and strange OS installed on my computers, or used during day-job, like HP-UX, SGI IRIX, AIX, Plan9.
Show us your list!

>>2821
That's a very impressive list! I only used Windows since the 90's and Linux since the last few years... I've been wanting to try a FOSS OS that isn't Linux, my top candidates at the moment are OpenBSD and Haiku, and since you used both I might as well ask you:

- How compatible are they with modern hardware? I'm talking about Windows 10 era desktops and laptops with wifi cards.
- What programs are available other than first-party software? Are there developer friendly tools available?
- What's the state of the GUI? Is it as usable as Windows XP/7? Is it customizable?

I'm interested to hear answers drawing from your personal experience. I personally find modern Windows unusable and consider Linux a "lesser evil" that's only usable after a great deal of tweaking, so an alternative would be nice.

>>2823
>- How compatible are they with modern hardware? I'm talking about Windows 10 era desktops and laptops with wifi cards.
Depending on your use-cases both can be a main OS for you and none aswell. Both OS lacks on 3d acceleration front, but OBSD have pretty good wlan drivers. Haiku now uses lan and wifi drivers both from FreeBSD and from OpenBSD, so there should be no big differences in hw support. However Haiku doesn't support some uncommon setup or hw.
Sound support: it is OK with OBSD, but can be tricky with Haiku, in some cases the OpenSound package can help (instal lfrom the Depot), or in some cases a soft/warm reboot from a different OS can help to fix the initialization.
Neither Haiku nor OpenBSD have usable Bluetooth stack, however Haiku at least have the basics already in place, so basic pairing works, but nothing else. Do not expect your bt speaker will work.
OpenBSD have bigger development team but they try to support a much wider architecture, while Haiku practically available only for x86/x86_64 and for riscv platforms. Arm is in progress, but nobody reached desktop yet.
I don't really own modern hw, but i always test Haiku with my company provided computers, so far  i had positive experiences.
Haiku supports NVME SSDs by the way.
If you need any other info, let me know.


- What programs are available other than first-party software? Are there developer friendly tools available?
Both for Haiku and for OBSD you can research the available ports via a webbrowser:
https://depot.haiku-os.org/
and
https://www.ports.to/ OR https://openbsd.app/

- What's the state of the GUI? Is it as usable as Windows XP/7? Is it customizable?
On BSD you can install many well known DE, so customization shouldn't be an issue. However on Haiku it is really different. There is only one DE, and while it provides some customization, you won't win a unixpr0n rice-price with Haiku. There are themed window frames and control UIs (window gui elements), but i prefer the default one, so i stick with that. You can however color it as you wish, some made dark themes, but i don't feel the need for dark UI, so i don't care.
For me the Haiku UI is usable, clear and simple, but keep in mind i use BeOS like OS since 2000 or so. A newcomer should probably unlearn many things, and adapt / learn about many BeOS/Haiku specific stuff. The earlier you accept it is a unix like but not unix system (eg. not linux, not bsd, it doesn't provides multiuser capability on the GUI, there is no ACLs and many other things many takes as granted.

If you have any question, feel free to ask.

Windows 95 for life. You really do not need any more GUI clogging up your machine.
The fact that modern Windows take up so much space is simply a crime.

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At the moment I have OpenBSD and Linux, on seperate ARM computers. OpenBSD is simply a containement zone for iridium (chromium) browser, whenever I'm forced to use that for whatever reason. Otherwise that board pretty much just sits idle.
The Linux is a very modified Armbian (Ubuntu) that I removed systemd from, and replaced with BusyBox. I also removed all the desktop environment stuff I could (to the extent that hardcoded package dedencies allowed), because I hardly ever use X at all. But I didn't remove X altogether, because I do need it on occasions. Otherwise most of the time I'm just in the framebuffer tty. Like for example, i'm typing this post in Links2 browser.
This is the best compromise I could manage at this time. I prefer older systems like those that existed in the 80's and 90's, but it's not practical to run those now and it would cost much more money than these two little ARM boards.

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>>3972
> 

>This is the best compromise I could manage at this time. I prefer older systems like those that existed in the 80's and 90's, but it's not practical to run those now and it would cost much more money than these two little ARM boards.
I recommend you contact anon.cafe/f/ for ideas how to keep your costs down on such gear. Teach us your ways, Sempai.