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react95-io/react95

7,215TypeScriptAudience · vibe coderComplexity · 2/5Setup · easy

TLDR

A React component library that makes your web app look exactly like Windows 95, with chunky gray buttons, raised borders, and pixelated fonts from that era of computing.

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((react95))
    What it does
      Windows 95 look
      React components
      Retro aesthetic
    Tech stack
      TypeScript
      React
      styled-components
    Use cases
      Game UI
      Creative projects
      Novelty tools
    Getting started
      npm install
      ThemeProvider wrap
      Global style reset
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Code map

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filefunction / class

Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Build a retro-themed web game or nostalgia project with authentic Windows 95 visuals using ready-made React components.

USE CASE 2

Add a novelty Windows 95 aesthetic to a portfolio site or creative tool without hand-crafting each retro element.

USE CASE 3

Create a viral or humorous React app styled to look like a real 1990s desktop environment.

Tech stack

TypeScriptReactstyled-components

Getting it running

Difficulty · easy Time to first run · 5min
License not stated in the explanation.

In plain English

React95 is a UI component library for React applications that reproduces the look and feel of Windows 95. If you remember the chunky gray buttons, the raised borders, and the pixelated fonts from that era of personal computing, that is exactly what this library brings to modern web apps. It is built using a tool called styled-components, which handles all the visual styling inside JavaScript code rather than in separate CSS files. To use it, you install two packages (react95 and styled-components), wrap your application in a ThemeProvider component with a theme of your choice, and add a global style reset. After that, you can drop Windows 95-styled buttons, menus, windows, checkboxes, and other interface elements directly into your React project. The library optionally includes the original MS Sans Serif font to complete the retro look. The project comes with an interactive Storybook page where you can browse every available component and see how it behaves, plus a demo application to see everything assembled together. A separate React Native version exists for building mobile apps with the same nostalgic visual style. This is a design-focused library, not a data or logic tool. It provides only the visual building blocks. If you want to give a modern React project a retro 1990s computer aesthetic for a game, a creative project, or a novelty tool, this library handles the visual work without requiring you to hand-craft each 90s-style element yourself. The project welcomes contributors, especially designers who want to help adapt modern UI patterns into the Windows 95 visual language.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1
Using react95, build me a Windows 95 styled to-do app with a Window component, classic gray buttons, and a taskbar at the bottom.
Prompt 2
How do I set up react95 with styled-components in my existing React project and apply the built-in default theme?
Prompt 3
Create a Windows 95 themed file explorer UI using react95 components with a sidebar folder tree and a file listing panel.
Prompt 4
Build a retro Windows 95 calculator app using react95, include the display, digit buttons, and operator buttons.
Prompt 5
Show me how to use the react95 ThemeProvider to switch between different Windows 95 color themes in a React app.
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