I recently tried a distro called Q4OS which was pretty good but it failed when it came to replicated Luna. I absolutely must have the Luna interface. Specifically where it failed was there were small black arrows on things like the Start button and a few other places.

I mentioned this odd thing on the forum and I was told that it's not a Linux fault but the fault of the specific distro.

There is absolutely no need for tiny black arrows.

So my question is can you name a distro or distros that do an excellent job replicating the XP Luna interface with no dumb stuff added graphically?

I also tried Lubuntu and that does not seem suited to a beginner at all.

Distro's that come to mind are Zorin OS and Elementary OS. Maybe Robolinux?

https://zorinos.com/home/?utm_expid=...&utm_referrer=

https://elementary.io/

Rather than installing those distro's you could install a VM and try them first to see if you like them.

https://itsfoss.com/windows-like-linux-distributions/

Why must you absolutely have the Luna interface? Windows itself no longer has the Luna interface. It was an awful eye-sore back when it was standard on Windows XP Home systems, and time has not made it any easier on the eyes.

And besides, how does small black arrows on some things make it more difficult for you, as a beginner, to use?

I'm afraid that you will find no one else cares about replicating the default Windows XP Home theme perfectly. It was always more of a funny (like, 10 years ago) joke rather than something anyone actually wanted to use.

In contrast, the utilitarian Windows 9x/2000/"Classic" theme was a good inspiration that a lot of Linux GUI themes have taken a lot of design cues from.

Why not? What is harder to learn how to do in Lubuntu than in Windows XP?

both kde and gnome can be set up to look like XP
but that blue and white theme was nasty

but kde might be easier than Gnome to make it look like the "garbage scow" that was XP

Wrong...

XP Luna was an EXTREMELY popular and wonderful looking interface. The most popular one the company ever created. I'm not a total beginner. Do you want a bug on your windshield?

Considering most of the computers in the world run WINDOWS not Linux the Luna interface was on everybody's face.

Really guy...you need to come to grips with the reality of the computer world and don't denigrate the best looking interface we've seen.

Oh, so that explains why Microsoft stuck with the awful Luna theme with Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10...NOT!

No, Microsoft did a hard reverse with Windows Vista into something more aesthetically pleasing and more efficient with screen space and never turned back. Linux theme artists jumped at emulating the themes of Windows Vista and Windows 7 (regardless of the relative unpopularity of Vista as an OS overall). Emulating the default Windows XP Home theme was never more than a joke.

Get over it. Windows 7 overtook Windows XP ages ago, and the general look of Windows 7 window decorations has been retained through Windows 8 and Windows 10. Microsoft knows it has an aesthetically pleasing winner with the Windows 7/8/10 look.

To be honest, Windows Vista's window decorations weren't bad at all, but Microsoft had to make a visual break from the disappointing Windows Vista for marketing purposes.

i recently had the pleasure of trying out Q4OS - truly lightweight (it comfortably outran ubuntu Mate on this old netbook) and amazingly windows-like in functionality.
i can see "normal" computer users (i.e., not linux, not nerdy in any way, hazy on what an operating system even is) being very comfortable with this.
i'd stick to one of the themes provided by the system. not much to choose from tbh...

There's always ReactOS..... (*snigger*)

Been in 'beta' for nearly 22 years.....the perfect XP clone.


Mike.

And still doesn't work on 90+% of real hardware.

^^^ +1!!! (rofl)

I know; I tried it myself, a few years ago. It works.....sort of. But absolutely full of bugs.

You should see how excited they are about it on the XP forums. A guy called towgers is working for an outfit who are forking it to produce something they call 'Classic OS'.....the main thrust of which is to run more up-to-date browsers..!

Some people, eh?


Mike.

i have lots of respect for the reactos project.
i hope to see it becoming a real alternative.
also i'm pretty sure it's compatible to most windows versions, not only to win XP anymore.

Millions of people still use XP. It was a very good system with a very good interface. Aero sucks and slows down your system. It is common practice for companies in any kind of software or electronic capacity to always be messing around with their products even when they shouldn't be.

XP Luna. Beautiful absolutely.

and they SHOULD NOT BE!!!!

it has not been supported for a rather long time
and is FULL of known and now fixed security holes
there are NO Anti Virus tools for it any longer
and it has the worlds crappiest firewall

*** PURELY AN OPINION - APOLOGIES IN ADVANCE FOR THIS ***

I've been a Windows user since the early 90's and the XP interface was one of the better ones, * in my opinion *. Any discussion on the relative merits of different desktop environments, whether Windows or linux, is purely subjective, however. It shouldn't provoke any arguments in a forum such as this, again, in my opinion.

The original poster is looking for a desktop environment that looks like Windows XP - if anyone can help him out, please do so. If not, there is no reason to criticize.

Cheers.

1 members found this post helpful.

I use all kinds of unsupported software. If you cling to this erroneous notion that you must only use supported software you will always be at the mercy of big business. An operating system does not need to be supported in order to use it and enjoy using it.

This notion of only using what is current is failure to think on your own and subscribing to what the companies tell you (like smoking cigarettes because everyone is doing it).

As far as many people are concerned, Linux is not supported either. It's well known that the OS lacks support for many things.

I don't use anti-spyware. I don't use anti-virus. I don't update Windows. I disable everything.

My system runs flawlessly too.

No problems here.

And I do my own thinking.