Windows 3.1 tiled background .bmp archive

(github.com)

105 points | by justsomehnguy 2 hours ago

15 comments

  • BobMcBob 0 minutes ago
    I know this isnt related to the post, but does anyone remember the artist or website that had a bunch of cool textures and colorful tiled wallpaper for the early days of linux? think mid-90s.

    I've been scratching my head for years and my searches have never found it, but there has to be some white beards here that can recall it.

    I remember there were some really cool options available, I believe in a square format for better tiling. If anyone can remember and post a link or archive I would very much appreciate it.

  • thombles 1 hour ago
    If you want your nostalgia in multimedia - https://canyonmid.com/
    • vunderba 57 minutes ago
      Nice. Kind of wish they'd used a shader to approximate the barrel distortion in the curvature of the Tandy monitor.
    • thereticent 1 hour ago
      Love that.

      As an aside, that keyboard in particular had the best click I've ever experienced.

      • dotancohen 23 minutes ago
        Better than the Model M?
    • Terr_ 1 hour ago
      34 years of nostalgia there. Well, not continuously, but y'know.
  • LetsGetTechnicl 51 minutes ago
    Here's someone's personal archive of weird miscellanea, including old Windows wallpapers which is what reminded me. I use unironically use the classic Packard Bell tile background on my computers because it reminds me of my grandmother's PC which is one of the first I ever used.

    https://www.dvd3000.ca/wp/extra/pb.html

    • jerbearito 36 minutes ago
      These personal collections are always neat to see. I'd like to start my own (beyond scraps in my local Pictures folder) but I'm not sure how to structure it. I might just build a grid of tagged/categorized media, like a chaotic memory palace.
    • markus_zhang 18 minutes ago
      I checked the website and he/she did a lot of really cool stuffs.
  • patrickscoleman 1 hour ago
    we have a crt tv with built in vhs in our office and have a bunch of old tapes

    one is “Mastering Windows 3.1”

    it’s fun to run in the background while working

    for your enjoyment, here’s a similar 3.1 tutorial video from that era uploaded to YouTube

    https://youtu.be/KRi5mjMgORk?si=OFH7UhOQif5EUCtg

    • jerbearito 36 minutes ago
      That's a great idea. It would be neat if you could also cast media to it somehow.
    • layer8 51 minutes ago
      Background knowledge is invaluable.
  • stevage 36 minutes ago
    Exactly as I remember - very few of them actually usable as backgrounds because they're so garish.
  • montroser 1 hour ago
    Gosh, my brain just got all fuzzy going through those one after the next. Transitioning from the previous era of CGA to 16 colors was so very exciting at the time.
    • peder 30 minutes ago
      I feel an ocular migraine coming on looking at these.

      On CRT displays, did these not cause visual problems in the same way? I remember having no trouble looking at these years ago.

  • tmtvl 37 minutes ago
    It's weird that those give me nostalgia when I clearly remember our PC having a monochrome monitor. I wonder if my brain is retrofitting stuff or whether if any of those survived to Windows 98.
  • _fw 1 hour ago
    What tickles me is that Andreas put these on GitHub 13 years ago.

    That’s long enough in tech to be considered retro in and of itself… let alone the age of these tiled backgrounds!

    • bombcar 32 minutes ago
      Someone who bought Windows 3.1 could easily be a grandparent by now, even if their first kid was born on release day.

      And the kid could be born when this upload was done, and now be downloading!

  • mikestorrent 58 minutes ago
    the 256color.bmp looks wrong, it's supposed to look more 3d, because it actually does use the 256 color pallette
  • gerdesj 16 minutes ago
    Sigh ... boots C64 with a rather odd coax to SCART to HDMI daisy-chain video interface. I also have a QSII joystick that I didn't quite manage to ruin playing Daley Thompson decathalon.
  • monday2 36 minutes ago
    Delightful! Glad someone posted this
  • wiremine 1 hour ago
    Oh, man, does that bring back the memories!

    Thanks for sharing. :-)

  • soopypoos 1 hour ago
    Last night I dreamed of flying toasters
  • spacebuffer 1 hour ago
    the leaves one is really nice.
    • dwd 39 minutes ago
      It was actually.

      Tried it as my background for a bit as it looks good tiled, but mainly used the two tartans or just a solid blue.

  • czemuja 1 hour ago
    thanks bro <3