Call me old-fashioned, but there's just something so cool about how Windows looked in the 90s. Even today, I still find myself drawn to the operating systems of yore and wishing I could revisit them one more time. Fortunately, one person has given us a glimpse of what Windows 11 would have looked like if Microsoft never changed the GUI, and you can replicate the same effect on your own PC.

Someone "de-made" Windows 11 into a retro dream

This cool feat was the idea of awirstam on Reddit, who made a post on /r/Windows98 about their new (old?) theme. Not only does Windows 11 look like it came out of the 90s, but their other apps have also had a retro makeover, including Steam, Discord, and Telegram.

The best bit is that this isn't just a mockup or someone giving a fun "re-imagining" of what Windows 11 would look like back in the day. This was achieved using third-party tools that give apps a retro feel. As such, if you want to send your OS back a couple of decades, check out this post for all of the apps awirstam used to make this project a reality:

There are a couple of apps in that list that we really love. For instance, Winaero Tweaker made it into our top 10 third-party apps for Windows, as it can do a lot more than retro-fy your Windows 11 PC.And if you want an extra trip down memory lane, check out these old-school Windows apps you probably don't remember until now.