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Ngl, I really fucking hate flat design and minimalism. These days everything on your laptop/computer just looks so boring. Back in the 2000s websites and programs had so much more personality. I've always been a fan of customization so you know I had to transform my entire laptop to make it look like Windows XP lol. Besides that, I love using programs or websites that bring back that old early 2000s internet feeling. Here are some ways you can turn your laptop/computer into a time machine to the 2000s. Let me know if I missed any!!
Programs
Escargot (MSN)
Unfortunately I wasn't able to experience MSN back when it was big, so I'm glad I can still use Escargot. It's super cool and customizable, especially if you get Messenger Plus!. It's way more fun than most modern messaging apps imo.
Download
Windows Media Player Legacy
The classic Windows Media Player. Just like Winamp, it has so many awesome skins and visualizers you can download!!
Download
Soulseek
Basically the closest thing we have to LimeWire nowadays, which was a peer-to-peer file sharing client that people used in the 00s. Great for downloading music, movies and shows for free!!
Download
Winamp
An awesome music player. It has many custom skins and visualizers to choose from. Definitely one of my favorites on this list.
Download
Rainlendar
A customizable calendar on your desktop. It has a lot of cool custom skins that you can download to make it look 00s.
Download
IrfanView
A simple image viewer that's been around forever. Looks way better than the modern image viewer on your laptop/computer imo. I’ve set IrfanView as my default image viewer, so when I click on a photo it automatically opens in IrfanView. And guess what: even this has skins.
Download
VLC media player
A media player that plays videos or audio files. I would also recommend setting this as your default video player so you never have to look at ugly, modern flat design.
Download
Customization
Open Shell
Brings back the classic Start Menu. Looks great in combination with RetroBar!!
Download
RetroBar
Changes your taskbar to look like older versions of Windows. I use the classic Windows XP style but there are many options to choose from!!
Download
Winaero Tweaker
Lets you tweak many different Windows settings and remove some of the modern features.
Download
Stardock WindowBlinds
Make Windows actually look like Windows XP. It basically changes the whole interface to look like whatever skin you have selected (for me Windows XP ofc). It's not free but you CAN get 30 day free trials for every email address sooo...
Download
Websites
SpaceHey
Of course.
Neocities (
https://neocities.org
)
Revival of GeoCities. People create their own awesome looking websites using HTML & CSS.
Blieprr (
https://blieprr.nl
)
For my fellow Dutch internet users: Blieprr is basically a Hyves revival. Hyves was a Dutch social network website back in the 2000s and early 2010s. Blieprr is kinda like Spacehey but for Dutch people lol.
VidLii (
https://www.vidlii.com
)
A website where you can share and watch videos, inspired by YouTube in the 2000s. You can customize your whole channel and everything. There's also
BitView
but that site has been "Under Maintenance" FOREVER.
Glitter Graphics (
https://www.glitter-graphics.com
)
The perfect place for blinkies, GIFs and other cool graphics. This site still looks the exact same as it did in the 2000s btw!!
Discogs (
https://www.discogs.com
)
Discogs is a website that lets you keep track of your CD (or vinyl) collection. You can create your profile, add friends, chat, buy CDs, browse forums and more. It used to be way more customizable back in the 00s.
WinCustomize (
https://www.wincustomize.com
)
You know all those skins I told you you could download? You can find them here.
The Wayback Machine (
https://web.archive.org
)
Lets you browse old versions of websites from years ago.
Old Games Download (
https://oldgamesdownload.com
)
On this site you can download old (2000s) PC games for free!!
Extensions
Stylus
If you know CSS, I would definitely recommend Stylus, a browser extension that lets you create custom themes for websites using CSS. I use this to bring back the old look of certain websites because I HATE how modern websites look.
Download
Here's an example:
I recommend using The Wayback Machine for inspiration when you customize a website!!
My Desktop
It's kind of funny how a whole team of professionals sat down together to come up with these designs while some people like me are doing everything they can to go back to the old look lmao. Technology really peaked in the 2000s.
Comments
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snüzi
2 kudos 4 u!!!
thanks!!!
by planetfelice2006; ; Report
Novah!
doing gods work right here
glad I can help🙏
by planetfelice2006; ; Report
junelles♛2000s
hey for the google extension how did u get the top bar ( the thingy with the tabs ) to look like that, ik u can use firefox geckium but it doesnt work for me anymore
I didn't code that, that's a chrome theme!!
by planetfelice2006; ; Report
ohh do u know which chrome theme that is? its so pretty
by junelles♛2000s; ; Report
NØVA³
es increible,gracias por esto,hermano ^_^
thanks!! and no problem btw!!
by planetfelice2006; ; Report
ann0_
this is amazing! thank you for your service
thaankss np!!
by planetfelice2006; ; Report
Witek :3
Thank you so much!!
no problem !!
by planetfelice2006; ; Report
summie n00r
something truly amazing about those times was that you could fully customize everything you had on your computer and it's so devastating how that is taken away from us. something so simple yet fulfilling. even if you didn't customize your stuff, the default design itself was some sort of art on its own, it was meaningful and it had authenticity. now all we have are boring and lazy designs. i wish i understood even just a little bit of tech to do what you do lol but for now i stick to old websites as that's all i can do. oh and thanks to your last blog i checked out Winamp and i could work with that one at least, thankfully lol. now i play my CDs using it, got some skins as well ;P so thanks for sharing such cool stuff, i really appreciate these !!!
EXACTLY!! it was so cool how you could personalize everything and customize your profile to really make it yours. now we're just stuck with some boringass design👎👎 also I'm glad you like Winamp and that you enjoyed my blog :))
by planetfelice2006; ; Report