2026-09-15 18:13 UTC
"notwin95" -- A minimal application launcher.
Click here to download it.
What it is
A minimal, windows 95-esque application launcher… with fancy directory icons over binary name suggestions, mouse support (you can doubleclick a binary name to run it) and a real-time clock on the far right.
Why
Nostalgia… and a (very likely) “futureproof” likeness (If both X11 and wayland gets ditched/replaced for whatever reason… this will still work as intended.). Also, due to how it works on both X11 and wayland regardless of whatever you have installed. Yes, distro hoppers – I heard your plea. :')
Dependencies
Type “sudo apt install build-essential libsdl2-dev” if you are on Debian/ubuntu
How to compile
After downloading and extracting the tarball,
make -j$(nproc)
It’ll create a “notwin95” binary.
Then run it with ./notwin95.
How to install
Type “sudo cp notwin95 /usr/local/bin/.”.
Commands
Arrow keys (up/down/left/right) or mouse left click to navigate between suggestions. Press enter (or mouse double left click) to run a binary.
Notes
I’ve tested this on a orange pi 5 max and the CPU usage was pretty much nil. So I’m sure all of you will have no problems/issues running it.
License
This is under the “DO WHATEVER YOU WANT” license. Should be self-explanatory.
Replies (8)
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@RedSnt@feddit.dk 2026-09-15 19:21
Idk why, but Ark extracted a file without a file extension, but I figured that was the tar file, so I did tar -xf on it, and sure enough. And to get make to work I had to use make -B for “always make”.
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@eldavi@lemmy.ml 2026-09-15 20:31
windows 95-esque application launcher it’s fascinating that everything seems to start here.
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@jdr@lemmy.ml 2026-09-15 20:45
What’s going to happen when you click on lzmainfo
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@MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 2026-09-16 09:01
what it is stretched
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@hexagonwin@lemmy.today 2026-09-16 10:06
looks cool. screenshot kinda feels like those bootleg “win98 for super famicom” game(?)s.
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@cupcakezealot@piefed.blahaj.zone 2026-09-16 10:18
its a windows system. i know this.
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@tasankovasara@sopuli.xyz 2026-09-17 03:46
Looks like a Windows mockup running on the ZX Spectrum. Highly meta 😅
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@gandalf_der_13te@feddit.org 2026-09-17 10:09
for a minimal window manager / desktop environment i can also recommend fluxbox