u/coopermapes

Hello Windows 98 users.

As an early 2000s baby, I had a few years of getting to experience the Y2K tech trends. Recently, I have become fascinated with late 90s Windows UI and browser functions. To start my summer, I wanted to do two things: 1) create my first retro setup and 2) build an app I can play on said setup.

The setup isn’t totally period accurate, but it’s a start. It’s mainly an amalgamation of late 2000s equipment running on a Windows 7 OS.

The real reason I’m here is to get some feedback on the site I have built. As a musician, I wanted to simulate what it would be like to be in college in the early 2000s using retro music software to learn. I did tons of research on late 90s Windows visual aspects and overall design functions, and I’m pretty happy with what I have made so far.

While I probably won’t be able to make my site a 1 to 1 replica of an old system, please give me any feedback you may have.

The site is at theoretically.io if you would like to explore it some. Thank!

If you were studying music theory in the early 2000s or using music software like Cakewalk and Finale, I hope this post finds you!

Recently, I have really become fascinated with retro UI components and music software interfaces. I wanted to start my summer by doing two things: 1) make my first retro setup and 2) build a music site I can play on said setup.

The setup is a stab at an early 2000s college computer lab feel. Mainly a Frankenstein of late 2000s equipment, running on a Windows 7 OS.

The app is what I would really like some feedback on. I did lots of research on Windows 95 UI and browser functions. I wanted to make it look like my software is close to period accurate as possible; this proved to be challenging but really fun. The software has an imaginary release date of 2001, my birth year.

The site is theoretically.io. If anyone wants to roast my design for period accuracy, please let me hear it. The closer I can get to the vintage music software vibe, the better.

After playing Wordle basically my entire college career, I decided it would be fun to adapt the game for my area of study: music. There are three games, all refreshing daily. The first is the chord trainer, for those wanting to improve picking out notes in a chord. Next is the note trainer, a fun, no-skill-required game for picking a random note out of thin air. And last is the rhythm identifier. It’s made for people wanting to get better at hearing and seeing rhythmic notation. The site is in the style of an early 2000s Windows computer because retro music software is honestly pretty sick.

Try it out at theoretically.io and let me know what you think!