
- #Windows 9x taskbar for classic shell install#
- #Windows 9x taskbar for classic shell windows 10#
- #Windows 9x taskbar for classic shell software#
- #Windows 9x taskbar for classic shell windows 8.1#
To complete the retro look, download a high-res version of Bliss the famous green and blue wallpaper used by Windows XP - from bit.ly/bliss460.
#Windows 9x taskbar for classic shell software#
The software gives you a choice of three different menu styles - Classic, Two Columns and Windows 7 - as well as other options for customizing various elements of your operating system, including File Explorer. If it looks familiar that's because it's a continuation of the popular Classic Shell app which was discontinued (and open sourced) late last year. If you prefer the old-style menus found in XP and Windows 7, you can get them back by installing Open-Shell (previously Classic Start). Not everyone loves Windows 10's tiled Start menu as much as Microsoft clearly does.
#Windows 9x taskbar for classic shell windows 10#
It's worth pointing out that this more basic theme won't actually make Windows 10 run any faster, but it will push your nostalgic buttons.Īpply a classic theme to make your modern desktop look like Windows 98 Restore the classic Start menu Enable the High Contrast option, and then select Classic from the list of themes. Right-click a blank area of the desktop, select Personalise and select High Contrast. Unzip it and move the file to the 'C:\Windows\Resources\Ease of Access Themes' folder.
#Windows 9x taskbar for classic shell windows 8.1#
If you don't like the modern look of Windows and hanker for the old-school style sported in the likes of Windows 98, you can download a ' Windows classic' theme for Windows 8.1 and 10. Windows 10 users nostalgic for XP can run the classic OS as a virtual machine Get back classic Windows themes Switch between full-screen, seamless and scaled modes via the View menu. When finished, reboot and you can start using XP, just like in the early Noughties.
#Windows 9x taskbar for classic shell install#
Select Cancel on all the windows that appear, and then in VirtualBox, go to Devices, 'Install Guest Additions CD Image', and install it (select the 'Continue Anyway' option when warnings appear). When you see a black screen, press Right Ctrl+R to reset the OS. You will need to use your keyboard to navigate the installation pages (tab is especially helpful here) as the mouse won't work properly. Close this window, select XP on the left and click Start above. Move Hard Disk to the top of the list, select Display and increase the Video Memory to 128MB (the maximum).

Now click Settings at the top, select System in the new Window, and untick Floppy. Click the folder icon to the right of the box below, and navigate to, and select, the VirtualXP.VHD file. Use the slider to increase the available memory to 2048MB and select 'Use an existing virtual hard disk file' at the bottom.

The rest of the information will be filled in automatically below. Go to New and name the virtual machine Windows XP. It wasn't the fanciest of operating systems, but it was stable and fast, meaning you could rely on it when you needed to get things done. While consumers were running the dreadful Windows Me back at the start of the new millennium, businesses, professionals and those in the know were using the superior Windows 2000. Travel back 23 years in time by running Windows 95 on your current computer Run Windows 2000 Professional in your browser When you're ready to go back to your modern operating system, just tap Esc to free your cursor from inside the virtual space.

Most features, including WordPad, Calculator, FreeCell and Media Player work just like they used to, with the notable exception of Internet Explorer, which opens but is unable to loads web pages. The program is available for Windows, MacOS and Linux, which means you can revisit the joys of Win95 on any computer, within a window on your desktop. You probably haven't used the groundbreaking OS in a good 20 years, but you can take it for a spin once more thanks to an enterprising developer who has wrapped it inside a virtual machine. Windows 95 gave us many of the elements of a modern operating system, including a Start menu, desktop and taskbar, but it's very different from the bells and whistles of Windows 10.
