I think that Win2K was the peak of computing, it's functionally the same as XP only it has a more serious appearance. If there were a way to use it in the modern age without being gimped to hell and back I'd still use it.

In terms of board-relevant OSes, XP. That's where I had most of my early internet adventures, anyway. I used 98 and even 3.1 back in the 90s, but my 3.1 machine lacked internet capability and I was almost never allowed online (like, once or twice a year) when we got a 98 box. So I spent most of my time then playing games off shovelware CDs. I wanted to mess with Linux back in the 00s, but I never had a spare computer/drive to put it on and was afraid of losing data by setting up a dual boot. At least I could rice the shit out of my XP box with bbLean to look like the cool kids. Nowadays I just use a simple Linux setup without much rice.

Debian reinvigorated my interest in computers and I wouldn't use another distro unless it went to shit. Nostalgia wise XP was what I used during my own subjective 'golden era' of the internet and I wish things were more like then than they are now.

>>2103 >not using XP with the Green or Royale skin

>>2106 green was fugly, silver/chrome was the shit

I can't choose between the Windows 9x systems or Windows XP with the Luna theme when it comes to aesthetics. My first experience with computers was using one that I think had been upgraded to Windows 95 from DOS, and my family upgraded to 98 and XP when they came out. I also remember using Windows Me in school and at my friend's house. XP is my favorite of the classic operating systems as far as usability is concerned. I first started using the Internet with Windows 98 but didn't really get into the Internet hardcore until the XP era. Thinking about all this just makes me wish ReactOS was viable as a replacement for Windows 10.

>>2108 >Thinking about all this just makes me wish ReactOS was viable as a replacement for Windows 10. Best case scenario is that ReactOS becomes like FreeDOS, an updated replacement OS for old as shit computers performing mission critical tasks that rely on ancient proprietary software. It's unlikely to have feature parity with the latest Windows at any point in the future (moving target after all).

I run OpenBSD. If you run it and avoid GUI software and software not written in C unless there is no alternative, it's a pleasant computing experience. >>2105 Debian went to shit over 10 years ago pal.

>>2108 Pixel art icons were the best. 3.x, 9x, 2000, classic Mac, all of them were just so nice to look at.

>>2110 >Debian went to shit over 10 years ago pal. I'd be interested to know why you think so. I wasn't using it back then so I wouldn't know.

>>2109 I'm just hoping at some point it becomes equivalent in usability to the 64-bit edition of Windows XP. That's clearly unlikely to happen anytime soon though. >>2111 Definitely.

>>2108 Did you use the classic theme with XP? I didn't care for the luna theme and classic made it mostly look like 2000/9x.

Windows 7 (technically still the 2000s) > XP > 98 > 95 Anyone else remembers Comic Chat? I spent hours playing with this shit on Win 95.

Windows 7 is my all-time favorite, but I personally don't consider it /retro/ because I used it from 2010 to 2020, so I'll have to say Windows XP. I used XP daily from around 2002 to 2007, and it was the OS where I learned most of my foundational knowledge regarding computers, software, internet, etc. Earlier this year I even dug out and upgraded an old Pentium 4-based XP machine I've had lying around for years just for fun/nostalgia purposes. It surprised me how usable it still is, at least provided I give it enough RAM and go back to being very conservative with multi-tasking. If push came to shove, I could probably still use it as my main OS, which is a comforting thought. I have fond memories of Windows 95 too, but we didn't have internet back then and I was too young at that time to really do anything besides play games and click on random shortcuts, so I didn't get the most out of it like I did with XP. >>2117 I vaguely remember messing around with it as a kid, but I don't think I realized it was supposed to be an online chat thing due to not having internet. I remember being at my older cousin's house around 1997/1998 and watching him use some kind of instant messenger to talk to one of his friends, and I remember being confused as to how this was even possible. Even the fact they were using psuedonyms like "Alien" kinda freaked me out.

>>2116 Yeah, I used to switch between those two but mainly stuck with the classic Windows look. My problem with Luna is that it's such a specific look that it can look pretty bad if you don't have a desktop background that you know will look good with it. The 9x look is a lot more understated. >>2117 I can't see that without immediately thinking of Jerk City.

>>2112 systemd, pulseaudio, the tranny takeover...

>>2120 Those aren't Debian-specific issues though; those are problems with most mainstream Linux distributions.

>>2120 >>2121 Heck Pulse is optional (mostly anyway but there are wrappers IIRC) and Devaun exists if you really don't like Systemd. As for that last one only 2 members in the head Officers group have female names (https://www.debian.org/intro/organization) but no idea what their situation is. According to https://contributors.debian.org it's mostly dudes also.

>>2103 If you like the classic windows look and fell, I'd probably just use Linux+XFCE+Chicago95 theme. With DOSBox and Wine, you could probably use many of the older applications too, while having access to newer opensource applications.

>>2103 >If there were a way to use it in the modern age without being gimped to hell and back I'd still use it. There are ways to extend it's functionality. This website has a collection of files that you can install to extend it's capabilities to even be able to possibly install some XP applications. https://i430vx.net/files/Win2k/>>2103

>>2120 >Systemd Install Devuan >pulseaudio Replace it with something else >the tranny takeover How does this affect Debian?

My favorite OS is XP though I wish MS had gone with the Whistler look. I'm also fond of Vista as I feel it was the last time they tried to be ambitious. Haiku/BeOS is the best looking though I've never used it.