This is why I run XFCE with the Chicago95 theme. Sure, it's Windows 95 but the 2000 UI wasn't a big divergence from memory. It's familiar and gets out of the way. https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95
In What was nice about the UI of Windows 2000grassmunk
Chicago95
HTML2018–2026
grassmunk / Chicago95
Chicago95
A rendition of everyone's favorite 1995 Microsoft operating system for Linux.
46Distinct people
73Mentions
2Explicit recommenders
6KGitHub stars
What to know before exploring
What it is
A rendition of everyone's favorite 1995 Microsoft operating system for Linux.
GitHub
Where it is used
No documented product use was verified in the last source check.
What people are saying
> Enhanced Classic icon theme (used with Win98 Second Edition, WinME, Win2K systems) from MicroSoft Memphis project for GNU/Linux inspired by Chicago95 theme (actually it’s a…
theandrewbailey used a recommendation phrase. 2 indexed comments match. This is a phrase match, not a verdict.
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Also in these discussions
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This week on Hacker News
Nov 7–Nov 14 UTC · Direct repository links and separately labeled related project stories. Indexed through 11/14/2026, 3:56:07 PM UTC.
No direct repository links were found in the indexed HN discussions over the past seven days. Older discussions are available below.
Mentions over time
HN mentions by year73 dated mentions
Observed mentions: 2018-01-12 13:58:56 UTC to 2026-06-18 17:29:14 UTC.
* An incomplete calendar period is marked with an outlined bar. Its count is not directly comparable with a full period.
Counts come from the repository’s dated source evidence. Index cutoff: 2026-11-02 08:16:59 UTC.
View mention counts and date ranges
| Period | Start (UTC) | End (exclusive, UTC) | Mentions | Submissions | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 2018-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2019 | 2019-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 2020 | 2020-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 2021 | 2021-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 15 | 1 | 14 |
| 2022 | 2022-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 10 | 1 | 9 |
| 2023 | 2023-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 9 | 1 | 8 |
| 2024 | 2024-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 2025 | 2025-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 12 | 2 | 10 |
| 2026 (partial) | 2026-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 2027-01-01 00:00:00 UTC | 6 | 0 | 6 |
From the project README
An excerpt from the repository, fetched Nov 13, 2026.
Read the project’s introduction
Chicago95
XFCE / Xubuntu Windows 95 Total Conversion
Click here for more screenshots
I was unhappy with the various XFCE/GTK2/GTK3 Windows 95 based themes and decided to make one that was more consistent across the board for theming.
Included in this theme:
Icons to complete the icon theme started with Classic95
GTK2, GTK3 and GTK4 themes (GTK4 includes libadwaita application support)
Edited Redmond XFWM theme to more accurately reflect Windows 95
Chicago95 Plus! A tool to preview and install Windows 95/98/ME/XP themes
Plymouth theme created from scratch
An MS-DOS inspired theme for oh-my-zsh
Partial support for HiDPI monitors
Partial icon theme for LibreOffice 6+
Requirements:
GTK+ 3.22 or 3.24
GTK 4.22 and libadwaita 1.9 for the GTK4 stylesheet (optional, see INSTALL.md)
Xfce 4.12, 4.14, 4.16
gtk2-engines-pixbuf (Recommended for GTK2 applications)
The xfce4-panel-profiles package
A Window compositor
(If your are using an older desktop that uses GTK3.18, you can use this forked version of the theme.)
Documentation
Click here for Chicago95 documentation and extra features.
Installation
Installation and setup instructions:
There are multiple ways to set up Chicago95, including an automated installer. Click here for install steps.
Install a Microsoft Windows Plus! theme:
Click here for installing custom themes.
Install the Plymouth boot splash theme:
Click here for install steps.
Install the LibreOffice icon theme:
Click here for installing the LibreOffice Chicago95 icon theme.
Miscellaneous
KDE Support (experimental):
SDDM Logon Manager:: Click Install from file... in Loggin Screen (SDDM) manager. Select SDDM/Chicago95.tar.gz to install the theme.
Splash Screen: plasmapkg2 -t lookandfeel -i KDE/Splash/chicago95.splashscreen
Screenshots:
Click here to view screenshots
IRC server:
Click here to connect to the IRC server. Please read server rules and be kind.
Code and license
License: GPL-3.0+/MIT
Read the full README on GitHubWhat Hacker News says
73 sourcesI can't speak about the grayness, but the lack of snappiness I think is thanks to the bloat and complexity of modern UIs. KDE in particular is a beast with a ton legacy code built up over the time, and a lot of bits and pieces put together by people from around the world, which results in a lack of cohesiveness... but that goes for most Linux DEs.
XFCE comes a bit closer to the old UX and cohesiveness, but is still a bit off. In saying that, Chicago95[1] for XFCE does a really great job of bringing that classic Win9X look to XFCE, so it's worth giving a shot. There's also a fork of it called MENT2K[2], which recreates the Win2K experience, also worth checking out.
The DEs I've seen being closest to recreating that classic experience have unfortunately been outside of Linux: ReactOS being the most obvious choice, and the other one being Se
Read the rest
renityOS. Although not viable for daily driving yet, still fun to play around with in a VM.
[1] https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95/
[2] https://github.com/User738git/MENT2K
Try this:
https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95
In VitruvianOS – Desktop Linux Inspired by the BeOSWell, there's this, for XFCE:
https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95
In Windows 8 Desktop Environment for Linux> Now, if someone wants to recreate win95
You can try Chicago95 [1], but it's only a XFCE theme. If you want more than a theme, there's SerenityOS [2] but it isn't suitable for daily use (yet)
[1] https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95
[2] https://github.com/SerenityOS/serenity
In Windows 8 Desktop Environment for LinuxNot sure if you think Windows 95 is pretty, but I'm compelled to drop a link to this on every Xfce post: https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95
In Xfce is greatChicago95: Windows 95 for Linux
4 points · Open discussionThere's a nice theme for XFCE, Chicago95, that looks a lot like this as well and is quite good!
https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95
In FVWM-95 (2001)Add Chicago95, and you've got some comfortable nostalgia.
https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95
In Google's new 'Aluminium OS' project brings Android to PCChicago95: XFCE / Xubuntu Windows 95 Total Conversion
6 points · Open discussionhmmmmm youth.
I remember running windows95 overnight so that it could be a "server".
The next morning, moving the mouse was making the harddrive go nuts, it was paging just by moving the cursor!
Memory leak galore.
This makes me want to run linux as my daily driver! [1]
[1] https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95/blob/master/Screensho...
In OpenBSD 7.8xfce + Chicago 95 is a lovely environment
https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95
In Microsoft keeps adding stuff into Windows we don't needWould you consider Chicago95 a good theme? https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95
In SerenityOS is a love letter to '90s user interfaceshttps://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95 and https://github.com/B00merang-Project/Windows-95 get quite close if you use them together. The B00merang one has presets for the GNOME/Cinnamon/MATE desktop and a GTK+4 theme (which adds terrible padding compared to the usual GTK+3 one, but at least it has visible and properly 3d-shaded widgets).
In SerenityOS is a love letter to '90s user interfacesSometimes I wonder why there isn't more enthusiasm around theming. Chicago95[0] is popular, but I also love how Garuda[0] themes KDE. There's some small websites for downloading themes on various DEs, but most of them are a bit jank and it seems built-in support beyond basic things like accents aren't there.
[0] https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95
[1] https://garudalinux.org/editions (screenshots don't do it justice)
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