What took them so long! Windows XP still powers some 18% of computers the world over, but the vintage platform is steadily losing users and people upgrade to newer solutions.
Once such solution is Microsoft’s latest — Windows 8.1.
Although this version of Windows fixed a lot of issues with Windows 8 vanilla, not everyone upgraded to the newest flavor. Some due to hardware limitations, but many due to the fact that it brought along a different user interface with a flat look and live tiles, the whole Modern UI philosophy.
But what if you can make Windows 8.1 look exactly like Windows XP?
Sure it requires extreme modification, but people have tried their hands at this.
DeviantArt user AJXP66 pretty much succeeded in replicating the look, though it required installing a number of third-party applications and skins, from WindowBlinds to StartIsBack. But the results looks rather divine, as you can see below:
Beginners will, obviously, have a hard time doing this.
But this is proof that it can be done.
Of course, this is just a cosmetic change and does nothing much other than providing that familiar, nostalgic feeling that fans of Windows XP might enjoy using.
Probably won’t make them upgrade to Windows 8.1, if they’ve already made their mind.
Still, looks pretty neat.
This should get an award for the – Biggest Waist of Time.
Am offiical patch or skin like this would get my father interested in upgrading Windows again. He swears on XP and doesn’t want anything else. Didn’t care for Vista, didn’t care for Windows 7, and he’s sworn off Windows 8. He’s a die hard Windows user, Microsoft should cater to the likes of him as they are becoming a rarer commidity these days.
I wouldn’t mind that all, Damian. In fact, something like this would be pretty neat. Previous versions of Windows came with legacy user interfaces. The future is modern, sure, but providing this as an alternative for people would be great.
And, not to mention, it offers some retro value too.
Microsoft probably wants designers and developers to cook things like this up themselves, but an official option is sure to be appreciated by people. Thanks for the comment, keep them coming!
You could wait until he goes on vacation and swap out his hard drive with this on it and see how long it takes him to notice.:)