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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.

1020 points | 319 commentspage 5
timeinput 6 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.
replwoacause 6 days ago||
Looks great on mobile! I think it’s awesome. But I’d change the avatar to something more XP like and less Simpson-esque that has a less obvious GPT designed feel to it.
mitchivin 6 days ago|
haha yeah I’ll get around to it eventually, it’s clearly a pain point for many - it’s really just not a huge deal for me
adithyassekhar 6 days ago||
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 6 days ago|
noted, thanks - which device do you have if you dont mind me asking?
adithyassekhar 6 days ago||
S24 on chrome.
billdybas 6 days ago||
Really cool! Added to my collection of personal websites @ https://personal.network/
aforty 6 days ago||
Really cool.

Only bug I noticed was that the command line output doesn’t scroll. This was on my iPhone with the keyboard up as I was typing commands and press return.

mitchivin 6 days ago|
Oh interesting, that’s not intentional but it might be something I just hadn’t considered - does it scroll again after the keyboard is hidden?
allendale 6 days ago||
Skip the scanlines, makes everything blurry on my sharp display.

https://windows96.net

Joel_Mckay 6 days ago||
Where is the doom demo launcher?

https://github.com/cloudflare/doom-wasm

=3

mautty 3 days ago||
This is super cool, I’m really impressed by how well it works on mobile, it feels very strange to be “using” windows on a phone but the whole experience is very smooth
nothrowaways 6 days ago||
I love the 'recently used' in the start menu.
mitchivin 6 days ago|
thanks!
MintPaw 6 days ago|
Windows didn't fade in and out in Windows XP.
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