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Posted by mitchivin 6 days ago

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.

1019 points | 316 commentspage 4
nrabulinski 6 days ago|
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
pbohun 6 days ago||
This is cool! I like how you can toggle the pixel effect. A lot of great attention to detail.
mitchivin 6 days ago|
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 6 days ago||
I miss the Windows XP look & feel so, so much.
throwaway743 6 days ago||
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 6 days ago|
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

busymom0 6 days ago||
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 6 days ago|
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_ 6 days ago||
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 6 days ago||
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

StrangeDoctor 6 days ago||
This looks and feels really good, nice work.

Makes me wonder what windows mobile could have been

mitchivin 6 days ago|
cease and desist followed by the announcement of windows on mobile any day now
RobertEva 6 days ago||
Delightful.The XP vibe is spot on, the startup sound and taskbar feel right.
mitchivin 6 days ago|
it's all about the feels
m_2018 4 days ago||
Congrats on this milestone. can it run games. what if yo host games remotely and launch them using this application?
melkael 6 days ago||
Really neat! I made one a few years ago too, it still is online (but not updated) https://melkael.github.io/
timeinput 5 days ago|
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.
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