Chicago95

Chicago95 is a visual theme for Linux desktops that makes the interface look and feel like Windows 95. It is designed for XFCE, a lightweight desktop environment commonly found on Xubuntu and similar Linux distributions. The author created it because existing Windows 95 style themes for Linux felt inconsistent, and wanted one that applied the old look more uniformly across the entire desktop.

The theme is a total conversion, meaning it tries to change every visible part of the desktop rather than just some of it. It includes a GTK theme (which controls how buttons, menus, and windows are drawn), an icon set to go with the Windows 95 look, a modified window border style, a boot splash screen that appears when the computer starts up, and even a terminal prompt style that resembles the old MS-DOS command line. There is also a companion tool called Chicago95 Plus that lets users preview and install additional Windows 95, 98, ME, and XP visual themes, similar to the Microsoft Plus packs that shipped with those operating systems.

Installation can be done through an automated installer or manually, and the project links out to separate documentation for each component. There is partial support for high-resolution screens and a partial icon theme for LibreOffice. Experimental support exists for KDE, another Linux desktop environment, covering the login screen and splash screen.

The project is aimed at Linux users who feel nostalgic for the Windows 95 era or who simply prefer that aesthetic. No coding knowledge is needed to use it. The license is a combination of GPL-3.0 and MIT.