Show HN: I recreated Windows XP as my portfolio
297 comments
·September 7, 2025bartread
It’s neat: I like it a lot actually.
But the problem with you billing yourself as a graphic designer and reimplementing Windows XP is that you’re copying a design that already exists rather than showcasing your own design skills, so I can’t immediately tell how good a designer you are[0].
I can look at your projects under the IE icon, which gives more of an impression, but some of the visuals there do look decidedly AI generated, which isn’t super-encouraging.
The UX is also weird. For example, the back/forward history controls behave like carousel controls through your portfolio, whereas when I hit back/previous I expect to be taken back to the menu of projects.
If you applied to me for a job with this, would I interview you?
Yes, I would, simply because I can see you’ve put a lot of effort in and created something high quality. But I’d have some reservations because of the concerns I’ve raised above and, in particular, I’d want to dig in to how user-centred your approach is, because that isn’t really demonstrated here.
Sorry if this sounds discouraging. What you’ve done is cool, and I like it, and it would certainly get you a foot in the door of many interview processes, but that will be when the real work of showcasing your skills begins.
I hope that makes sense?
[0] Literally, I could do this, and I suck at design. It’s very similar to the process of implementing a design passed to me by a UX Designer, which I’ve done loads of times.
II2II
> Literally, I could do this, and I suck at design.
Are you sure about that? I've seen plenty of imitation XP interfaces in my day, and there are virtually always elements that are jarringly wrong. While I won't claim that MitchIvin XP is a faithful reproduction of XP, in the sense that one could compile a long list of inconsistencies with Windows XP, the experience is pleasant enough.
Philip-J-Fry
I think their point is that the skills of making a website which looks like Windows XP is adjacent to the skills needed to be a good graphic designer.
Pretty much most days I am the person who is taking a design from a designer and reimplementing that in HTML/CSS. I couldn't tell you where to start when creating a design, but as far as taking something someone else has created and reimplementing it in code? I can do that all day long.
The visual guidelines PDF exists http://interface.free.fr/Archives/GUI_Xp.pdf and turning that into a web page is just a matter of creating some DOM elements with the right sizing, margins, padding, fonts, borders, etc.
lukko
This was my concern too - as a little project, it's interesting but if it's a replica of XP it has been done before and much more accurately.
As a portfolio, I think it doesn't work at all and is detrimental to what you're trying to do. I think now in design, it is more important than ever for your work to cut through the noise and show at least some attempt to create something original.
I think sometimes graphic design is seen as competence with certain programs, which I guess includes genAI now, or making something cool - but really it is visual communication that responds to a set of constraints - e.g. a brief, tailored to a target audience, communicating a product or emotion. There are no shortcuts - study what has been done, work on communicating what you want to say with colour, layout, typography and images. Draw and paint; avoid genAI until you are competent without it. Currently as a graphic design portfolio, I'm sorry to say it is memorably bad and there is a lot of work to do.
That said, well done on finishing something, and making it to the top of HN. I hope the attention leads somewhere and that you continue making things.
utyop22
I highly disagree with the feedback above.
The reality is, it depends on the context of whom is hiring. A startup values things like being resourceful and finishing stuff vs a large firm wherein most projects get dumped anyway.
rs186
In either case a "real" portfolio will be more effective and less work than this Windows XP thing, which is the point.
snozolli
I think now in design, it is more important than ever for your work to cut through the noise and show at least some attempt to create something original.
From what I've seen, at least half of design work is "make it look like x" where x may be "glass", "CRT effect" or "BigCo's design language".
This project looks like some light-hearted fun and demonstrates an ability to achieve a desired look. You seem to be looking for someone doing greenfield design work for a large advertising agency.
I see nothing in your profile that indicates any expertise in design, so it's really bold of you to level this kind of criticism at someone's project.
aqme28
> Yes, I would, simply because I can see you’ve put a lot of effort in and created something high quality. But I’d have some reservations because of the concerns I’ve raised above and, in particular, I’d want to dig in to how user-centred your approach is, because that isn’t really demonstrated here.
Then the site satisfied its purpose. A portfolio site should get you an interview with someone who is curious to know more. Its purpose is to be a foot in the door, not to get you the job.
DrewADesign
Well, not really. Graphic design isn’t art— it’s a communication strategy using text, images and layout to convey information to people — often purely visually with visual hierarchy, gestalt, color, etc. Lacking originality only really matters with branding, avoiding copyright infringement, or if existing cultural norms interfere with the message— like you’re obviously re-using something without deliberately making a reference to it as part of the message.
The much more important question for a graphic designer is: what exactly are you trying you communicate about yourself and your portfolio by invoking windows XP? Because right now, technical competence is about the closest I can get and I really don’t see the association. I think what they’re probably trying to do is evoke nostalgia among potential tech industry clients as a freelancer, and to be fair, the intended audience is always a big part of the equation.
If I was art directing, I probably wouldn’t bring them in for an interview — but I’ll bet they aren’t advertising themselves to art directors.
> Literally, I could do this
The classic refrain. Implementation is the easiest part of design work. It looks better than XP did, and it should— that’s one key skill that a designer should have. Nobody hiring a designer will care if they can accurately recreate the wonkiness of XP’s interface. And nobody is impressed that a developer can implement this because that’s a developer’s job. I’m genuinely impressed when a developer’s website has solid type design and a thoughtful informational hierarchy, but that’s not even the bare minimum required fora designer. Having done both, I think deciding exactly what goes on the screen/paper is the harder part. It takes longer and you’ve got a much more nebulous path to success.
paul7986
I would hire this guy he stands out from the competition! He has tenacity, grit and more creativity then the majority. So much more creativity that multi thousands of HN(ers) have enjoyed his creation, their friends and tech journalists who some will write about it showing his work to many more thousands to millions. Getting a job isnt easy now but being like this guy will no doubt make it easy to get many offers!
Ive been needing to update my portfolio site as in August an out of nowhere opportunity knocked on my door. Seeing this makes me want to innovate my portfolio for said opportunity(thanks for the inspiration).
tropicalfruit
nice gatekeeping
as if everything isn't just a copy of something else
sieabahlpark
[dead]
Kwpolska
> A faithful XP-inspired interface, custom-built to showcase my [...] attention to detail.
Here goes:
1. "Welcome" on the login screen should be lowercase
2. Balloon is too high (should touch the icon), close icon is too small (should be roughly the same height as the balloon title)
3. About Me is missing the scrollbar on Firefox
4. Wrong gradient for "Social Links"
5. Start menu should have a shadow
6. In My Projects, two tiles are loading forever
7. Windows that cannot be maximized, but can be minimized, should have all three buttons, with the middle one disabled
8. Paint did not have the Windows logo in the corner. It would be better to show the JSPaint menu bar to make things like Undo accessible, and the JSPaint authors deserve attribution.
9. "Git Co-pilot" is not a thing, as Git ≠ GitHub. (On the XP project page.)
If I were making something like this, I would probably skip the boot and login screens (certainly would not require user interaction; indeed, XP would automatically log you in if you had a single passwordless user), and show "About Me" on startup, so that potential clients don’t give up before they learn more about you.
numtel
Also missed that double clicking the icon in the top left of the title bar closes the window. It does not toggle maximization like clicking the rest of the title bar does.
gjvc
no way, the boot and login screens add to the overall charm of the faithfulness of the reproduction, as much as does your attention to detail. In GUI applications one needs both aspects to enchant the user and keep them in a state of joyous disbelief -- without the disappointment -- as they use the system.
garganzol
In general, it is even smoother than the real Windows XP. Kind of a magnetizing experience, and I do not know why. There is something attractive in this idea in terms of UI/UX, aside from the obvious nostalgia.
Another interesting aspect of this particular implementation is that it blends naturally with a browser tab hierarchy, it does not try to overrule it, it just blends in. Probably thanks to a distinctive taskbar, or maybe it is due to the startup screen/login/sound that set up a distinctive boundary "you are here now, and this is a friendly place to be".
giveita
Windows (or anything) is nice when its fast. Most things should work in under 20ms so I don't notice a delay.
gloosx
20ms is faster than a fly reaction time, it's about the same time which 60HZ monitor takes to refresh the frame, 10 times faster than a typical human's reaction.
Everything under 150 ms is pretty much indistinguishably fast to a normal person.
mock-possum
I uh guess I’m not a normal person then
Working with soft synths, the difference between 65ms, to 15ms latency, 8ms latency, and 2ms latency - time from pressing the key to speakers emitting the sound - is agonizingly noticeable.
The numbers I’m quoting are ones I remember from various gear and upgrades over the years. It’s crazy to think about the levels of latency I was stuck with when I was a poor college kid. These days I wouldn’t settle for more than 10ms latency, and I don’t have to, thank the maker.
majewsky
If this were true, then a 10fps movie clip would be indistinguishable from a 24fps or a 60fps one. I have written several years ago about how optimizing my shell prompt from 50ms to 5ms was definitely a noticeable impact on how snappy the shell felt: https://xyrillian.de/thoughts/posts/latency-matters.html
supermatt
Reaction is not the same as perception. The typical human perceptual threshold is around 16ms, although persistence of vision "smooths" that out to around 40ms.
Etherlord87
You're wrong. You can clearly see a difference between 20ms reaction time (as instantaneous as it gets because of what you say, 1/60 = 16.6666...), whereas 150 ms is a fast reaction but it definitely is a noticeable lag. I wish your opinion didn't exist because how can we expect to get rid of the lag everywhere if some people even claim it doesn't matter.
hexo
Nice troll.
rustybolt
"Faster than a humans reaction" time is different from "indistinguishable".
ozgung
My thoughts exactly. I'm on macOS 26 Beta and this Windows XP felt like an upgrade. I think that's because it's simple, fast, intuitive and I know everything about how it works. Old Windows was also bad at multitasking due to single cpu core, which is better for the user to focus. In modern OS I have 20 windows open with hundreds of tabs, distributed over 6 different workspaces and 2 monitors. They all fly left to right with cool animations. I can't focus on anything.
mitchivin
obviously the nostalgia is a huge factor but you might be onto something with the login sound haha. did you try logging out? :)
null
csomar
> There is something attractive in this idea in terms of UI/UX
Very fast response time for the UI interactions. "Modern" UIs can have a few fast transitions but the overall interactions with the different components have a human noticeable lag that make them uneasy.
mkovach
This isn't meant to critique you personally. Your post just sparked the thought. But it points to a deeper, systemic issue with AI collaboration in coding, design, writing, and beyond.
The core tension is between replication and creation. Yes, some things will always resemble what came before. A hard-boiled detective novel usually has a corpse or two, a bottle, and a wisecrack. But the artistry and work are in what you do with the formula. Take Les Roberts, for example. He wrote detective novels, sure, but he set them in Cleveland, gave them local color, and turned Northeast Ohio into a character. That's authorship. That's presence.
You can absolutely ask an AI to plot the story. But the soul, that point, is what you bring to it: the choices, the voice, the friction.
What gives me pause here is that I don't feel that presence. The project looks good, but it feels like Windows XP. Smooth, clean, and generic. I can't tell what this person's actual skills are. From the post, they clearly put in real time and effort. They learned something and got it working. But what I see is replication. Competent, yes. But flat, in my opinion.
If I were in their shoes, someone who would struggle to replicate this, I'd still treat that as step one.
Okay, I copied it. Now, what can I improve? What parts of the interface feel off? Where could I take a risk? Then, show the before and after.
So here's the long-winded point.
Why stop at imitation? Why not go further? Why not show that you can replicate something, build on it, shape it, and own it?
That's the more profound concern I have about AI collaboration. How do you show your work in a world of infinite templates and effortless iteration? How do you show your soul, or if you are too shy to bare your soul, at least a differentiator, that means you should be hired?
(I say this with the absolute irony that I used Grammarly to ensure this collection of words somewhat resembled a coherent thought. In the words of Dirty Harry, "A man has to know his limitations."[0]) ---
[0] Probably a misquote.
Fade_Dance
I think a clear recreation is a cool addition to a wider portfolio that also showcases some of the elements you mention.
Having one deeply extended project and one memorable clean recreation (it's getting upvotes, seems like a novel enough idea) is probably more unique than two mildly extended projects, if I were to hazard a guess into what people ripping through dozens of portfolios are thinking.
You are probably right that the portfolio needs to be rounded out though and that this project shouldn't stand alone.
mitchivin
At this point it seems like the debate around if the portfolio site is effective or not is opinion based but I will say, I know my actual projects are lacking - that’s just proof that I’m a junior haha and that I didn’t intend on ending up with this.
If anything it’s the best motivation I could have to raise the quality of all my work though
mitchivin
hey haha I tried to post this a few weeks ago but my post didn't go through - i'm glad you guys are enjoying it!
edit: I'm new here! let me get some of that sweet sweet karma!
dang
(I'm one of the mods here) - I've re-upped your original Show HN and merged the comments hither.
I've also marked your account legit so it won't get misassessed by those nasty spam filters in the future!
redbell
Thanks dang for helping here, especiallyfor new comers! I always find you appear from nowhere when you are truly needed. Kudos!
keepamovin
Really polished! And it really captures that windows XP aesthetic, but also the spirit of that aesthetic.
If Windows XP had had some kind of super professional “create a portfolio” app that would output an executable binary that you could download it would’ve been lauded as amazing and beautiful if it looked like what you created.
This is great. It shows your skills, but also brings back the beauty of Windows XP, in a contemporary but historically accurate format.
xp84
In an alternate timeline where malware never existed and Apple had gone out of business in the 90s, all portfolios , presentations, and resumes would be packaged as .exe files as a de facto standard. It’s a great and flexible exchange format!
keepamovin
I often fantasize about this, late at night. That exe rule the world. You can have portable document formats inside exe (or nix binary) that contains its own reader. The glory days of self-extracting zip archives achieve the ultimate realization of their lofty ideals.
mitchivin
haha wow, thank you so much :)
sibeliuss
Cannot believe how well done this is! great work
mkl
For me, the start menu takes a couple of seconds to appear, and disappears again after a fraction of a second (Chrome 138 on Windows 10).
mitchivin
interesting, if you can be bothered - could you let me know if disabling the screen effect via the system tray toggle makes any difference? thanks for letting me know
mkl
That makes it work 30-50% of the time, after flickering closed briefly.
After reloading the page and leaving the CRT effect on, it worked once (the first time) then not.
Reloading the page and turning the CRT effect off immediately, it seems to work every time, but flickers.
Quiark
same on Firefox macos
esseph
This is really well done. Excellent work!
wewewedxfgdf
>> let me get some of that sweet sweet karma!
You are going to be a wealthy man very soon now from all that karma.
Waraqa
I wonder why his karma is less than the points of the post. doesn't karma follow the total points of one's posts and comments?
mitchivin
Im just looking to go from broke to stable dude haha, its been a long journey
VagabundoP
Very enjoyable. Well done.
pryelluw
Beautiful work.
latexr
It’s interesting, I’ll give you that, but feels entirely like the wrong approach.
I opened the page before reading your post, and what immediately jumped out at me is that you say you’re a graphic designer but then you’re copying someone else’s old design which isn’t even that good.
The second thing I noticed was the obvious AI icon for the login, and that hovering on it makes it move weirdly. I haven’t used Windows XP in over two decades but don’t remember it doing that. It looks like an error.
At that point, I started losing confidence. You are supposed to be a graphic designer but are obviously using AI to design graphics and I assumed you would be doing the same for the code.
The resume as a fake PDF is cramped and zooming in feels like a poor solution.
Same thing with your projects, I can’t view them properly because they’re shoved in a tiny window for no reason. Plus, two of them are just loading animations, and it’s hard to understand if they’re broken or will ever load.
Then I finally read your post. You say you had no coding experience and used AI agents and “every decision was human”, but if you don’t know how to code, most of the decisions will have been made by the LLM even if you instructed it in particular ways. Do you feel confident regarding what you ostensibly learned and that you’d be able to reimplement most of the project yourself from scratch?
Again, it is interesting and a cool project, but it’s not particularly well-made or original¹ and I feel that as a portfolio actually does you a disservice by showcasing your skills in the worst possible light.
null
timeinput
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.
zephyreon
This is really good. I’ve seen recreations before but the attention to detail made this delightful to use. Agree with some of the other points that you’re recreating a design that already exists but it’s evident you spent some effort on this even with the help of AI (which was disclosed in the AUTHOR command in command prompt, thank you!)
ftruzzi
This is really nice work, and it does showcase your skills, ability to learn, persistence and attention to detail.
I disagree with others who complain that either the design was copied or a few little details are not exactly the same as the original – I don't think that's the point here.
Congrats!
m4houk
I love this. As a former XP user, here are some pedantic inaccuracies you've got:
- The taskbar tabs are slightly off from how they looked in the real XP (must be the borders? It's the same issue with the windows as well).
- The close/maximize/minimize buttons never had hover transitions
- By default, desktop icons didn't have any hover effects in the real XP
- I'm surprised you didn't recreate the XP mouse cursor!
- IE6:
- The address bar didn't show progress
- The buttons in the toolbar at the top never had any transition effect on hoverkeepamovin
I think of this as a homage or appropriation, a gentle upgrade of classic Windows XP aesthetic into a form that merges a few contemporary affordances and new polish. It's a classic way of keeping art and styles fresh and how aesthetics evolve while retaining a clear lineage that respects their roots.
shakna
Whilst that's true... Using "faithful" is inviting criticism where it doesn't align - intended or not.
keepamovin
always tension between the traditionalists and the nouveau
mitchivin
this ^ while also completely disregarding portfolio conventions. some have even said "If i was a recruiter I would instantly click off because it takes too long to load" hahah
jventura
If you're still working on this, you can add a "Pedantry mode" ou "Really faithful" switch that turns some of the suggestions on. It could work as a way to show that you're really aware of the shortcomings of the first implementation without messing too much with what you've got already done. And it can also work as a way to show some kind of "appreciation" for the feedback you're getting here..
Personally, I've used XP a lot back in the day, but don't remember much of the details like most users are reporting here, so I really liked to play with your website, and would definitely hire you if I was in such position.
Good luck!
keepamovin
I guess it functions as a filter to exclude companies that won’t be best for you anyway. I think good portfolio/cv should do this!
mitchivin
taskbar tabs - correct and I spent a crazy amount of time trying to figure out why they look off, admittedly I accepted defeat at where we landed but I think its pretty damn close!
the rest, are all aesthetic decisions haha but I was aware of some of them - I'm surprised you missed the biggest one of them all though.. also that nobody else has mentioned it yet - maybe its because nobody has tried it
the drag selection over desktop icons highlights the icons in a way much closer to windows 11 than XP... i really just thought it deserved an upgrade
edit: did i miss it or did you just add the thing about selection? you're right though
typpilol
The command prompt?
tombert
Pretty cool stuff.
Every time I see it, a part of me misses the styling of Windows XP. It was kind of the only well-regarded windows that tried to actually be fun; the fact that there was a little dog mascot in the search results, the fact that the bar on the bottom kind of looks like a Fisher Price toy, Clippy!
I kind of miss when professional programs were allowed to be goofy.
As a side note, I really like your avatar; has kind of a Simpsons/Bob's Burgers vibe that I find appealing.
mitchivin
aside from the frustration it's been pretty cool building it, its almost like im back in 2006
magic_hamster
It's very cool, but I think two issues keep this from being truly delightful. First of all, it doesn't really feel like a computer, little things like typing "dir" in the command line could be a great little interaction, but it's not supported. I'd try to make it more fun to use and not just pretty to look at.
The other thing is, I think the portfolio doesn't really match the quality of the website you vibe coded. This is actually a pretty bad sign that your own work is not as good as something you can do with AI (human assisted or not). The website is pretty high quality, so browsing through extremely simple assets just feels out of place.
Overall it's a good project.
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.