{"slug": "98-css", "name": "98.css", "category": "dev-libs", "category_name": "Libraries and frameworks", "description": "", "recommenders": 8, "commenters": 13, "warners": 0, "score": 8.883, "rising": 0.04, "first": "2025-12-15", "latest": "2026-10-21", "why": "I love your design! I used it in a prototype BBS game", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 8, "neutral": 5, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 5, 1, 0, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I love your design! I used it in a prototype BBS game", "kind": "", "icon": false, "domain": "jordanscales.com", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://jdan.github.io/98.css/", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["98.css"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 799470272, "item_id": 49966892, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49966892", "by": "HanClinto", "date": "2026-10-05", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using 98.css [0] as a foundation for building many of my personal projects lately", "excerpt": "I've been using 98.css [0] as a foundation for building many of my personal projects lately -- I think it's pretty great, and a really refreshing return to some older paradigms. [0] - https://jdan.github.io/98.css/", "context": "", "use_case": "UI styling for personal projects", "switched_from": "", "story": "A browser-native classic Visual Basic VB6 IDE"}, {"id": 788320896, "item_id": 49270056, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49270056", "by": "chamomeal", "date": "2026-08-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I\u2019m still waiting on 98.css to become the standard", "excerpt": "Wow it\u2019s aggressively vibe coded. Nothing inherently wrong with that, but it looks a bit amateurish which is funny. I\u2019m still waiting on 98.css to become the standard for vibe coded sites. You don\u2019t have to read docs anyway if you\u2019re just using LLMs! All you have to do is say \u201cuse 98.css\u201d and you have a 10/10 site https://jdan.github.io/98.css/", "context": "", "use_case": "Windows 98 look", "switched_from": "", "story": "llama.cpp"}, {"id": 784823824, "item_id": 49051489, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49051489", "by": "whynotmaybe", "date": "2026-07-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "https://jdan.github.io/98.css/", "excerpt": "https://jdan.github.io/98.css/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stolen Buttons"}, {"id": 784499712, "item_id": 49031232, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49031232", "by": "pkage", "date": "2026-07-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used this to build my personal site", "excerpt": "I used this to build my personal site: https://ka.ge . It's a pixel-perfect (and functional) recreation of the windows 98 desktop environment in under a MB.", "context": "", "use_case": "personal website styling", "switched_from": "", "story": "98.css"}, {"id": 784485552, "item_id": 49030347, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49030347", "by": "montag", "date": "2026-07-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It was very easy to modify and extend, thanks!", "excerpt": "I used 98.css as starting point for the Winamp theme in https://chiptune.app. It was very easy to modify and extend, thanks!", "context": "", "use_case": "Winamp theme starting point", "switched_from": "", "story": "98.css"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "sphars", "context": "made a tiny website", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49030323", "date": "2026-07-23"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["windows 98 ui styling", "ui styling for personal projects", "windows 98 look", "personal website styling", "winamp theme starting point", "retro ui css"], "compared": [], "makers": [{"id": 799414464, "item_id": 49963404, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49963404", "by": "jordanscales", "date": "2026-10-05", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Feel free to lift any CSS you need from https://jdan.github.io/98.css/, it's MIT licensed.", "excerpt": "> border-color: var(--vb-light) var(--vb-dark) var(--vb-dark) var(--vb-light); This creates 45 degree corners on the borders which are an uncanny valley to me [1]. Feel free to lift any CSS you need from https://jdan.github.io/98.css/, it's MIT licensed. I used a box-shadow hack to get the \"staircase\" look. > box-shadow: inset -1px -1px #0a0a0a,inset 1px 1px #fff,inset -2px -2px grey,inset 2px 2px #dfdfdf; [1] https:", "context": "", "use_case": "Windows 98 style UI", "switched_from": "", "story": "A browser-native classic Visual Basic VB6 IDE"}, {"id": 784487408, "item_id": 49030463, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49030463", "by": "vibbix", "date": "2026-07-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "", "excerpt": "Thank you so much for your project! I have spent the last few months working on my own retro computing CSS library, but instead inspired by BeOS https://beta.mtechnic.me PS: while doing research on my project, I found your portfolio site as well. Was shocked to see we had the exact same taste in music, and genuinely made me curious if everyone whose doing retro throwbacks libraries did as well.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "98.css"}, {"id": 784480688, "item_id": 49030043, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49030043", "by": "jordanscales", "date": "2026-07-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This was my burnout recovery project and holds a place near and dear to my heart.", "excerpt": "Author here! This was my burnout recovery project and holds a place near and dear to my heart. https://notes.jordanscales.com/98-css-reflections", "context": "author of 98.css", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "98.css"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49028927", "title": "98.css", "mentions": 8}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49956681", "title": "A browser-native classic Visual Basic VB6 IDE", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50183694", "title": "Mine Rogue. Vibe-coded balatro-inspired minesweeper roguelike game", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49267928", "title": "llama.cpp", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48976262", "title": "Stolen Buttons", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48504912", "title": "Slightly reducing the sloppiness of AI generated front end", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 1}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 802939121, "item_id": 50183695, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50183695", "by": "aeonfr", "date": "2026-10-21", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I know it uses 98.css", "excerpt": "Hey folks! First time sharing something here. I've been vibe-coding a browser game inspired in Balatro. It's a minesweeper game where you play rounds of increasing difficulty. At the end of each round you can buy different bonuses that do special things like \"reveal a random safe tile after every 5th successful move\". The game was done using Claude Opus 5.5. In a previous version I had a screenshot test suite that to", "context": "", "use_case": "Windows 98 UI styling", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mine Rogue. Vibe-coded balatro-inspired minesweeper roguelike game"}, {"id": 799470272, "item_id": 49966892, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49966892", "by": "HanClinto", "date": "2026-10-05", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been using 98.css [0] as a foundation for building many of my personal projects lately", "excerpt": "I've been using 98.css [0] as a foundation for building many of my personal projects lately -- I think it's pretty great, and a really refreshing return to some older paradigms. [0] - https://jdan.github.io/98.css/", "context": "", "use_case": "UI styling for personal projects", "switched_from": "", "story": "A browser-native classic Visual Basic VB6 IDE"}, {"id": 788320896, "item_id": 49270056, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49270056", "by": "chamomeal", "date": "2026-08-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I\u2019m still waiting on 98.css to become the standard", "excerpt": "Wow it\u2019s aggressively vibe coded. Nothing inherently wrong with that, but it looks a bit amateurish which is funny. I\u2019m still waiting on 98.css to become the standard for vibe coded sites. You don\u2019t have to read docs anyway if you\u2019re just using LLMs! All you have to do is say \u201cuse 98.css\u201d and you have a 10/10 site https://jdan.github.io/98.css/", "context": "", "use_case": "Windows 98 look", "switched_from": "", "story": "llama.cpp"}, {"id": 784823824, "item_id": 49051489, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49051489", "by": "whynotmaybe", "date": "2026-07-25", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "https://jdan.github.io/98.css/", "excerpt": "https://jdan.github.io/98.css/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Stolen Buttons"}, {"id": 784514944, "item_id": 49032184, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49032184", "by": "akx", "date": "2026-07-24", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Something that always irked me about 98.css and its friends was the ever-so-slightly-incorrect version of MS Sans Serif.", "excerpt": "Something that always irked me about 98.css and its friends was the ever-so-slightly-incorrect version of MS Sans Serif. Finally decided to do something about it: https://github.com/jdan/98.css/pull/230", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "98.css"}, {"id": 784499712, "item_id": 49031232, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49031232", "by": "pkage", "date": "2026-07-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used this to build my personal site", "excerpt": "I used this to build my personal site: https://ka.ge . It's a pixel-perfect (and functional) recreation of the windows 98 desktop environment in under a MB.", "context": "", "use_case": "personal website styling", "switched_from": "", "story": "98.css"}, {"id": 784485552, "item_id": 49030347, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49030347", "by": "montag", "date": "2026-07-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It was very easy to modify and extend, thanks!", "excerpt": "I used 98.css as starting point for the Winamp theme in https://chiptune.app. It was very easy to modify and extend, thanks!", "context": "", "use_case": "Winamp theme starting point", "switched_from": "", "story": "98.css"}, {"id": 784485472, "item_id": 49030342, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49030342", "by": "sphars", "date": "2026-07-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "", "excerpt": "Another one to add to your list, which is another collection of vintage styles https://nielssp.github.io/classic-stylesheets/", "context": "", "use_case": "Retro UI CSS", "switched_from": "", "story": "98.css"}, {"id": 784485168, "item_id": 49030323, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49030323", "by": "sphars", "date": "2026-07-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Hits just the right mix of usability and nostalgia and makes me want to use it for more projects.", "excerpt": "Thanks for creating this, it fit perfect for a tiny web site I made[0]. Hits just the right mix of usability and nostalgia and makes me want to use it for more projects. [0]: https://www.mathsheets.net/", "context": "made a tiny website", "use_case": "retro-styled website UI", "switched_from": "", "story": "98.css"}, {"id": 784481248, "item_id": 49030078, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49030078", "by": "mysterydip", "date": "2026-07-23", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love your design! I used it in a prototype BBS game", "excerpt": "I love your design! I used it in a prototype BBS game playable on the web :)", "context": "", "use_case": "Retro UI styling", "switched_from": "", "story": "98.css"}, {"id": 776173936, "item_id": 48510871, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48510871", "by": "vunderba", "date": "2026-06-12", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "There's an entire lightweight CSS lib around the Win9x look as well", "excerpt": "There's an entire lightweight CSS lib around the Win9x look as well: https://jdan.github.io/98.css/", "context": "", "use_case": "Win98-style UI styling", "switched_from": "", "story": "Slightly reducing the sloppiness of AI generated front end"}, {"id": 764928944, "item_id": 47808059, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47808059", "by": "godzillabrennus", "date": "2026-04-17", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Nothing screams old school more than 98.css https://jdan.github.io/98.css/", "excerpt": "Nothing screams old school more than 98.css https://jdan.github.io/98.css/", "context": "", "use_case": "Windows 98 CSS styling", "switched_from": "", "story": "Claude Design"}, {"id": 746079809, "item_id": 46629988, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46629988", "by": "DrinkerOfBeers", "date": "2026-01-15", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "built with Angular and 98.css", "excerpt": "https://laurikarjalainen.com/ It's a simple \"business card\" page built with Angular and 98.css. Been thinking of upgrading to plain vanilla js, xp.css and maybe some static site generation or CMS thingy for blog posts", "context": "", "use_case": "personal website", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Could you share your personal website here?"}, {"id": 740541281, "item_id": 46283830, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46283830", "by": "azayrahmad", "date": "2025-12-15", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I found 98.css and OS-GUI", "excerpt": "https://azayrahmad.github.io/azos-second-edition/ I'm recreating Windows 98 desktop GUI faithfully in pure HTML, CSS, and JS, complete with desktop theming, file management, and some programs recreated from scratch or embedded from existing ports. It started when I was feeling nostalgic and tried to redesign my website with retro style. Then I found 98.css and OS-GUI and got carried away and now it's a full fledged w", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Are You Working On? (December 2025)"}]}