Explore Wikipedia Like a Windows XP Desktop
123 points
2 hours ago
| 19 comments
| explorer.samismith.com
| HN
hliyan
18 minutes ago
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Incredibly beautiful, possibly because it maps so well to the mental model we typically use to organize knowledge in our heads. I don't know how we lost the folder/container vs. document/content iconography, and other things (like layout of items, sorting) during the shift to web applications.
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sznio
10 minutes ago
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I guess this model doesn't maximize engagement
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tigerlily
4 minutes ago
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Oh wow, to me the history section feels like Civilopedia (in a good way). I can't explain why.
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dewey
1 hour ago
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The shininess looks a bit more like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_XP_Media_Center_Editio... and not like the regular Windows XP, but still a fun project!
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dunderd
4 minutes ago
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Very cool!
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crabmusket
46 minutes ago
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Where does the hierarchical classification come from?
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boshomi
20 minutes ago
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pixlmint
44 minutes ago
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Such a cool project! Now it's just missing search and a request for donations
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emil-lp
34 minutes ago
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It's also missing the defrag tool. Without it, it's going to be very slow as the disk fills up.

Should put a shortcut to it on the desktop as well, so that users who experience significant lag can defrag at will.

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steveharing1
28 minutes ago
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What a beautiful nostalgic feeling. Keep up the good work! Worth adding some start menu options as well.
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kramit1288
35 minutes ago
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This looks really cool. feels nostalgic. it would be more fun if it can be switched into whatever desktop mode i want like unix.
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angilr
1 hour ago
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It is nice. I randomly click on something interest just appear in my mind and lead to this: life -> death -> last_words -> More milk. But I can't find it on Wiki. I search More milk. and the first result is this page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Michael_Jackson. Hmm, why is the name different?
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flexagoon
1 hour ago
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"More milk" is a redirect to that page

https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=More_milk.&redire...

The "Windows XP" website displays the same article when you click on "More milk" there

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angilr
1 hour ago
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Wow, do you know what is the relationship between More milk and the death of MJ?
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Kwpolska
1 hour ago
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The Wikipedia article does:

> After several hours and several drug injections, Jackson was still unable to fall asleep, and, according to Murray, was repeatedly asking him for "milk", a nickname for the powerful surgical general anesthetic propofol, which Jackson had used in the past as a sleep aid. At 10:40 a.m., with Jackson still not asleep, Murray relented to his requests and injected him with 25 milligrams of propofol diluted with lidocaine. With Jackson finally asleep, Murray testified that he left his bedside to go to the bathroom, and after returning two minutes later, discovered that Jackson was not breathing and had a weak pulse.

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angilr
1 hour ago
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Thanks! TIL that Propofol has a nickname "Milk of amnesia". MJ asked more milk which meant more propofol.
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pratio
19 minutes ago
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Here's Robin Williams describing it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOIBBE3ObRY

He calls taking propofol for sleep as Having chemotherapy because you're tired of shaving your head

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koolala
10 minutes ago
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trying to find what folder has Дэбі робіць Даляс
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sagacity
55 minutes ago
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This is genuinely a really fun way to browse Wikipedia. Only drawback is that folder names that contain ellipsis don't show the full name when clicked.
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Eonexus
22 minutes ago
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This is just beautiful. I wonder if this could turn into different styles, like that of a book, or a cabinet?
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arnon
27 minutes ago
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make it look like encarta 95 and you'll have a REAL winner on your hands
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hnlmorg
27 minutes ago
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I guess appearance is subjective because I always considered XP to be the ugliest Windows ever released.
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unrvl22
1 hour ago
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love how it loads instantly and feels smooth. imo useless but still cool
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kristianp
8 minutes ago
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> love how it loads instantly and feels smooth.

Unlike Wikipedia these days.

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senfiaj
23 minutes ago
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I guess XP (x64) could run like this on modern PCs.
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dolmen
1 hour ago
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Yes. It definitely lacks the hourglass mouse cursor experience!
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jdw64
1 hour ago
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Seeing the Windows XP theme I loved the most really brings back a wave of nostalgia
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macwhisperer
1 hour ago
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pretty cool! needs the search function to work tho to be useful
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DeathArrow
22 minutes ago
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Well, it should also have Solitaire and Minesweeper. :)
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redox99
1 hour ago
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Is there a reason why it looks like Temu's Windows XP? Copyright concerns I guess?
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sunaookami
31 minutes ago
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Because it's obviously vibe coded (look at the source code).
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