Show HN: I recreated Windows XP as my portfolio

Posted by mitchivin 9/7/2025

Show HN: I recreated Windows XP as my portfolio(mitchivin.com)

Years ago I stumbled across a basic version of this concept and it stuck with me. I knew if I was ever going to take on such a project, it would need to be flawless, but without coding experience it was just another idea that would never happen. By the end of 2024, as AI coding tools exploded everywhere, I finally had a way to make it real.

I started from zero knowledge and spent months collaborating with AI agents as a learning experience. Every pixel and every function went through me. The AI translated what I asked for into code, but every decision was human. I didn't use existing OS frameworks because the goal was learning how basic coding languages worked while also developing my skills with AI collaboration. Apart from basic libraries like xp.css and paint.js, it's all original code.

The result is a fully functional Windows XP recreation running in your browser. Complete experience with sounds, animations, and working applications. Even works properly on mobile, which required rebuilding everything to maintain the authentic feel without becoming unusable on touchscreens.

This project taught me more about coding and AI collaboration than I ever expected. Would love to hear your thoughts on the execution and any feedback on the technical approach.

1032 points | 323 commentspage 4

nrabulinski 9/7/2025|

It’s very neat but I’m sorry, you can’t advertise yourself as a designer while prominently showcasing very obviously AI-generated graphics. The wallpaper and the avatar immediately undermine everything else, I can’t take you seriously seeing those

mitchivin 9/15/2025|

So you can’t take me seriously based on the use of a tool that almost definitely is used on a daily basis by everyone in my industry? Or would I be taken more seriously if I took a moral stand like you, and failed to adapt to my changing profession?

pbohun 9/7/2025||

This is cool! I like how you can toggle the pixel effect. A lot of great attention to detail.

mitchivin 9/7/2025|

personally, I prefer it on but I'd had some complaints and it does have some impact on performance so better to give the choice, right?

sethops1 9/7/2025||

I miss the Windows XP look & feel so, so much.

busymom0 9/7/2025||

Would be cool if the contact you page let me send you an email from your site itself instead of trying to launch my default mail app. I typed out an email and filled in my email but it tried to launch mail app when I tried to send it.

mitchivin 9/7/2025|

yeah I would also love to get that working - at one point that was the plan but things changed. It's something i'll look into updated, thanks for the suggestion.

btw, if you let your mail app open - whatever you typed into my contact me app will be pre-filled in a new message ready to send

QuantumNomad_ 9/7/2025||

Might not apply to most people, but on some of my machines I have left the mail app unconfigured and so the few times something uses a mail link launching the app will just land me on the setup screen. It’s rare enough that anyone uses those sort of mailto: links that I haven’t bothered doing anything about it. And it might be that most other people have their email program set up already so only me and a handful of others run into any sort of issue with that :p

mitchivin 9/7/2025||

funny you say that, you are the first to mention it but I personally use Gmail installed as an app from my browser, so I encounter this exact issue hahah. Even worse, there was a time where I uninstalled outlook completely. It was also pretty messy in that instance

I kind of assumed that if someone found themselves in that position they would contact me another way and it shouldn't be a dealbreaker haha

throwaway743 9/7/2025||

Looks and feels solid. Only issue I noticed off the bat is that scrolling isn't working in Chrome on Android. Also, idk if it's an issue with mobile Chrome but the address bar doesn't drop down.

mitchivin 9/7/2025|

Will check out the chrome scrolling on android, is that in the my projects app?

Sadly the address bar does not drop down haha Maybe one day

StrangeDoctor 9/7/2025||

This looks and feels really good, nice work.

Makes me wonder what windows mobile could have been

mitchivin 9/7/2025|

cease and desist followed by the announcement of windows on mobile any day now

RobertEva 9/7/2025||

Delightful.The XP vibe is spot on, the startup sound and taskbar feel right.

mitchivin 9/7/2025|

it's all about the feels

melkael 9/7/2025||

Really neat! I made one a few years ago too, it still is online (but not updated) https://melkael.github.io/

timeinput 9/7/2025||

Wow. Beyond anything, my main take away is *do not try to mimic [wW]indows [xX][pP] in any way*. I will never ever ever get it right enough. Stick to Windows 95 or earlier.

adithyassekhar 9/7/2025|

This is awesome, I found a tiny bug. On mobile, if I open CMD and the keyboard opens, the browser thinks I'm in landscape and blocks the UI till I close the keyboard.

mitchivin 9/7/2025|

noted, thanks - which device do you have if you dont mind me asking?

adithyassekhar 9/7/2025||

S24 on chrome.

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