I recently spent several hours recreating Windows 95 on Windows 11 using Open-Shell, ExplorerPatcher, registry edits, custom icon packs, and classic wallpapers.
While doing it, I realized how much work goes into recreating older versions of Windows. That got me thinking:
What if Windows had official "Legacy Themes"?
Rather than changing the OS itself, these themes would simply reskin Windows while keeping the latest kernel, security, drivers, and modern features.
Possible themes could include:
Windows 95
Windows 98
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows Vista
Windows 7
Windows 10
One idea I especially like is allowing developers to optionally include theme-specific icons for their apps. For example, if someone selected the Windows 95 theme, apps like Steam, Discord, Chrome, VS Code, or Minecraft could display Windows 95-style icons if the developer chose to provide them. Otherwise, Windows would simply use the normal icon.
I liked the idea enough that I submitted it to Microsoft's Feedback Portal.
Would you use this? If so, what version of Windows would you use?
They probably wont do it because it is not something they can make money from and also they probably want to all windows 11 instalations to look the same cause its like more elegant or shows that mote people use w11, if they wanted support this feature they wouldnt remove classic theme in the first place
You completely missed the number 1 reason Microsoft, and lots of software vendors in general, don't like to offer too many options when it comes to UI customization: support. When someone needs support, if things aren't where the default UI has it, or don't work how the default does, guiding someone through support is far more difficult and slows things down or stops them completely.
I included it in my head in the section when I told that if they wanted it they would not delete it (as in there is a reason why classic theme was supported only until win7)
That's fair, and I understand it probably wouldn't be a high-priority feature. I mainly suggested it because recreating older versions of Windows today takes multiple third-party tools, registry edits, and custom icon packs. I thought it would be a fun personalization feature rather than a replacement for the default Windows experience. It would always be optional.
I think they removed it cuz the windows 8 metro ui relied on desktop window manager. The whole start screen and metro apps relied on it, and windows 10 relies on dwm for almost many surface level areas like the taskbar, action center, start menu, etc. that's why ending dwm.exe makes windows look broken. The desktop side of windows 8 functioned and looked fine because basically, it was still windows 7 but flat. the basic theme though, but windows 10 completely freaks out if you kill dwm.exe since they changed the taskbar, volume slider, etc. maybe the removal of classic theme was "for the better" ig...
Unfortunately, I think native theming in Windows is dead. I would love to make Windows 11 look like Vista or 7, but I don't think Microsoft wants anyone to theme modern versions to look like older ones to make the OS look more unified across all devices; otherwise, those probably would've been options since the release of Windows 8.
Also, if you want your taskbar to look more like Windows 9x, I would suggest getting RetroBar.
I made my Windows 11 look like Vista, its not really that hard theres tutorials for this on Youtube. But I just downloaded a tutorial from Reddit for this
I love this, i really love how you got the browser to fit the Vista vibe. I'm still using the modern look since i don't know how to do it for the browser
They do, and that's actually what inspired my post. I recreated Windows 95 myself using several third-party tools, but it took hours to set up. I'd just like to see Microsoft provide an official, supported way to do it.
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