Explore Wikipedia Like a Windows XP Desktop
159 points by smusamashah 3 hours ago | 37 comments

hliyan 40 minutes ago
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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cheschire 7 minutes ago
Knowledge doesn’t neatly align to a nested hierarchy. Especially written knowledge.

Language is an imperfect means to convey knowledge, and people store that knowledge in subjective and highly personal ways.

You may mentally recall balloons within “entertainment” or “party”, whereas I might store that knowledge under “horror”.

Add onto that the massive focus on using graph theory to scale social networking technologically, and you effectively lose any motivation for rigid hierarchy.

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sznio 32 minutes ago
I guess this model doesn't maximize engagement
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cube00 7 minutes ago
This is exactly what I imagined the original Microsoft Network in Windows 95 would have been like; with everything being icons organised into folders.

It also reminded me what an excellent job Wikipedia does with their hierarchical classification which you don't see when you search for articles by name most of the time.

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eur0pa 7 minutes ago
Beautiful memories of browsing random topics in Microsoft Encarta '97
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dewey 2 hours ago
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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crabmusket 2 hours ago
Where does the hierarchical classification come from?
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boshomi 42 minutes ago
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tigerlily 27 minutes ago
Oh wow, to me the history section feels like Civilopedia (in a good way). I can't explain why.
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sagacity 2 hours ago
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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pixlmint 2 hours ago
Such a cool project! Now it's just missing search and a request for donations
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emil-lp 56 minutes ago
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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soupspaces 6 minutes ago
Is there a way to go up/back a folder without clicks? Enter key goes into folders.
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angilr 2 hours ago
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 2 hours ago
"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 2 hours ago
Wow, do you know what is the relationship between More milk and the death of MJ?
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Kwpolska 2 hours ago
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 2 hours ago
Thanks! TIL that Propofol has a nickname "Milk of amnesia". MJ asked more milk which meant more propofol.
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pratio 41 minutes ago
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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kramit1288 58 minutes ago
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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steveharing1 51 minutes ago
What a beautiful nostalgic feeling. Keep up the good work! Worth adding some start menu options as well.
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macwhisperer 2 hours ago
pretty cool! needs the search function to work tho to be useful
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Eonexus 44 minutes ago
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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unrvl22 2 hours ago
love how it loads instantly and feels smooth. imo useless but still cool
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kristianp 30 minutes ago
> love how it loads instantly and feels smooth.

Unlike Wikipedia these days.

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hexagonwin 13 minutes ago
wikipedia is fine, and you can still use vector or even monobook skins. try adding ?useskin=monobook at the end of the url
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dolmen 2 hours ago
Yes. It definitely lacks the hourglass mouse cursor experience!
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senfiaj 46 minutes ago
I guess XP (x64) could run like this on modern PCs.
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koolala 32 minutes ago
trying to find what folder has Дэбі робіць Даляс
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Uptrenda 21 minutes ago
Somehow the format makes me feel like its easier to learn here than the intimidating encyclopedia theme of wikipedia. It's interesting to consider the effect that presentation of information might have on learning. We know that physical books are said to be better for learning (I have heard people go up by an entire grade if they use them), but maybe there is something to be said for themes, too.
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jdw64 2 hours ago
Seeing the Windows XP theme I loved the most really brings back a wave of nostalgia
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DeathArrow 44 minutes ago
Well, it should also have Solitaire and Minesweeper. :)
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arnon 49 minutes ago
make it look like encarta 95 and you'll have a REAL winner on your hands
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hnlmorg 49 minutes ago
I guess appearance is subjective because I always considered XP to be the ugliest Windows ever released.
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dunderd 26 minutes ago
Very cool!
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prokajevo 55 minutes ago
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hacker_mar 31 minutes ago
[dead]
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redox99 2 hours ago
Is there a reason why it looks like Temu's Windows XP? Copyright concerns I guess?
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sunaookami 53 minutes ago
Because it's obviously vibe coded (look at the source code).
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