This just hits hard

Can't even get HL3 on an alternate timeline.

We might be living in the timeline that gets HL3. A recent leak from a VA's resume suggests that it might be in development.
- Don't do that. Don't give me hope.
Rumor has it that HL3 or some other single player HL game is currently in the works!
Wasn't Alyx HL3?
- It was a prequel.

Can we return to Aero? Is that too much to ask?

I've been long enough on this place that I know you can get similar effects on Linux

(not mine, found on image search)
- first screenshot doesn't look like aero at all tbh. second one more so. this is the most accurate port I know of tho https://gitgud.io/wackyideas/aerothemeplasma
- It's pretty easy! This is my desktop right now. I do like it a liiitle less gaudy and my mac use at work means that I prefer my window controls on the left instead of the right.
- Second picture theme is called: Clearglass. Icon: Glass icons by Palko drawing.
  
  ..For anyone interested
Skip aero. Let's go back to compiz fusion and deskcubes.
- New KDE brought the cube back!
- I'm rocking a desktop octagon with two monitors with all the fancy window animations on and still using less ram that windows on idle lol.
- Have a look at Wayfire. It's a Wayland compositor that implements a lot of the compiz effects/plugins. I recently found that but haven't tried it myself as I don't really care about wobbly windows and cubes as much as I did 15+ years ago when I first tried compiz as a teenager :D

Oh fuck. We need themes on steam client

You can. They are called skins though.
- Apparently official skin support no longer exists but Millennium for Steam looks like an unofficial tool that can be used for skins.

Fucking Steam always getting shittier with each update! Why can't they be better like Microsoft's XBox Store or DRM free like Epic Games?!

Comment from the alternate timeline
- Crazy how Microsoft sold of their XBox brand to Sega, conserding that this single handetly made Sega the biggest video gaming company world wide!

What kind of soulless psychopath leaves a window of this size unmaximized is the real question here. Also, a horizontal scrollbar in the main section, able to scroll maybe 8 pixels total to see some more of the glorious empty padding, could have been a nice touch as a consequence of the "unintended" window size.

I'm sure they didn't think of the window police.

Thanks, I hate it.

I try not to let my nostalgia get the better of me, but god damn I really miss when everything looked like this.

Maybe I'm older than you, but I preferred Windows XP style, it was better without the confusing ribbon bar.
- Loved XP and loved Windows 7. Haven't like a single Windows OS since.
- I grew up with XP as well, and while I'm still nostalgic for it, it just feels kinda flat compared to the vista/7 aero theme. Not really boring, but not as interesting as aero imo. Still a vibe though.
I'm with you - the nostalgia is fun. I installed https://github.com/grassmunk/Chicago95 as a joke, and I'm still using it a year later...
No, you don't.

You miss who you were when everything looked like this.

You were young, you were discovering the internet like a new frontier, every new app you tried or new album you found or new comedy website was like discovering a new country. You could while away hours without responsibility or care or trauma, or at least nearly as much. You were not cynical and jaded yet.

Nostalgia isn't a longing for when things were simpler, it is a longing for when you were simpler.
- Yes. I understand that and I'm well aware of what you're describing, that is why I said I try not to let my nostalgia get the better of me.
  
  I'm saying I enjoy this aesthetic mainly for nostalgic reasons. I am not necessarily saying this is superior to current aesthetics. I do miss this era, yes, and you are correct that is more about me than the aesthetic itself.
  
  That doesn't mean this isn't beautiful or pleasant in some way, and I don't think it's wrong to enjoy or explore older aesthetics even if it's out of nostalgia.
  
  I realize the way my comment was worded made it seem like a comment about the era rather than the aesthetic.
  
  Edit: contradicted myself there. Sorry, it's kinda hard to get a consistent thought out on mobile.

Needs to be running on Linux to make it perfect.

Well atleast for Gnome we have AdwSteamGTK which make Steam fit seemingly into LibAdwaita.

Poke 👉

Poke 👉
- Poke 👉

Oh man, that formatting nostalgia hit.

can someone make this a thing somehow?

Didn't Steam have skins/themes back in the day?
- They're still out there technically, but they get jankier every year. The new UI they released... last year? put the nail in the coffin for a lot of the fancy ones, but there are still options out there to skin your Steam UI.

I love how all the reactions to this are either "I love this" and "this is cursed beyond belief"

I personally would get a kick out of this as a skin for occasional use...

Hate it for the current day but gives off strong nostalgia vibes

Can you do one of these for Windows 3.1 or 95? That would be sweet!

Honestly, I hate steam (the client) so much. I have a fair sized library of games that I never play because it’s just torture to me to start that abomination of a program. Why the fuck couldn’t they give it a simple, clean, elegant, native UI that doesn’t treat my battery with wanton disrespect?

Have a look at Playnite, it might be a better fit for you, also includes other stores.
- Does it let me join lobbies off my steam friends? I’ll fucken drop the official client RIGHT NOW if it does.

I think I speak for everyone when I say

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

chomsky-yes-honey A better timeline?

Windows UI design peaked with Windows 98 and Unix UI design peaked with IRIX imo

Back when they had consistent style guidelines to follow (I remember reading them, along with deep descriptions of how PnP actually works - yuck!).

Now they just throw shit at the wall it seems

I think Trinity Desktop Environment looks very similar to this.

Perfect choice of game to display this

I don't think that those three buttons would be in the statusbar. "Add a Game" would be in the sidepane "Games", "Manage Downloads" and "Friends and Chat" would be a view (in the sidepane) instead of a button.

but overall, a damn beautiful interface :)

Frutiger Aero from Windows Vista and 7 was the peak of UI design.
- It was so much more welcoming and fun. Sure it sucks at scalability but that's easily resolved with proper vector graphics.

Does anyone have that skin?

I loved this theme! I remember upgrading from XP to Vista Aero (later win7) and being blown away! Aero based themes are still my favorite. Windows 8 and 10 looked cheap and boring.

...how? HOW?

Nightmare fuel

Were you actually an awesome gamer though?

10/10

I don't get it. /g

I believe it's a fantasy/for funsies mock-up of what the gaming store/launcher application Steam maybe could have looked like if it was done in a style similar to Windows 7's styling and other computer applications and websites during that era. Looks like maybe MySpace and Windows Live Messenger may have been some inspiration

I hope that helps. I may be leaving stuff out or wording things oddly since I'm pretty brain foggy due to health issues, but no one had answered ya (that I can see) and I wanted to try to help ya out 😅
- Thank you very much for willing to help, I hope you're okay! 🤗
  
  P.S.: I've seen your other comments (forgive me if that bothers you) and I would like to say that you're an amazing person! I like how you always treat others with respect and kindness, this world surely needs more people like you! Please don't forget to take care of yourself and remember that you're loved! 👋