1995: What a time to be alive. Michael Jordan came out of retirement, Jumanji, Ace Ventura, and Ebay came into our lives and so too did Windows 95. Yep, it was the year Microsoft changed the game and brought in a new software that basically shat all over the former Windows 3.1, most notably for the introduction of features such as a ‘Start’ button and Microsoft Paint got a legendary update. The drop was so ’90s that even the video tutorial featured members of the Friends cast.
Windows 95 seriously balled out for its time, but by comparison to the here-and-now, we’ve definitely come a long way. To put it in perspective, this was from back in a time when computers had no form of social media. So then the question arises, what would 95 have looked like had social media been a thing?
Moscow-based designer Misha Petrick has reimagined Instagram for Windows 95 and honestly, the nostalgia of it all combine with our love for the gram is almost too much to handle. The gif series demonstrates how Instagram might have looked 20 years ago when you were scrolling through the feed, getting notifications and filtering your photos with ‘1-bit’, ‘Mac ’86’ and ‘Apple II’. The photos people would have been uploading might have been pretty different too. It would have been an Instagram without overzealous vegan doughnuts and re-uploaded Snapchats and probably a lot more slap-bracelets and pics of Justin Timberlake with noodle hair. Check out the gif-series below and see for yourself how it all could have been.