You Made It

If you’re reading this, you’ve already figured out the basics. But there’s more to this desktop than meets the eye. Here’s everything you can do.

Getting Around

The desktop works like a real operating system. Icons on the left are your main navigation. Double-click to open anything (single tap on mobile).

Desktop Icons

• My Computer opens a folder view of all posts, projects, and articles across the site.
• Dev and Life filter posts by category.
• Series groups multi-part posts together.
• My Pictures is a photo viewer for film photography rolls, complete with thumbnails and a lightbox.
• Neoscape Navigator (center of the desktop) opens the Gooble search homepage, where you can search all posts by title or tag.
• Chat opens a real-time chatroom. Pick a username and avatar, and talk to other visitors.
• Robo Arena is a mini-game. Try it.
• Portfolio (bottom-right) links back to the main portfolio site.
• Recycle Bin is empty. Or is it?

The Taskbar

The bottom bar shows all open windows. Click a window’s taskbar button to minimize or restore it. The clock on the right is real.

The Start Menu

Click the Start button (bottom-left) to access:

• Programs for Neoscape Navigator, My Pictures, Notepad, Explorer, and MS-DOS Prompt
• Favorites for quick links to portfolio sections
• Documents for your most recent posts
• Shut Down to trigger the shutdown sequence (don’t worry, it restarts)

Reading Posts

Blog posts and project write-ups open in Neoscape Navigator, styled like a retro browser. You can navigate between posts using:

• The address bar at the top (type a URL or hit Enter to go back to Gooble)
• The Back and Forward buttons
• The Home button to return to the Gooble search page
• Links inside posts that open other posts in the same window
• The favorites sidebar on the left for quick access to categories

Windows

Every window can be dragged by its title bar, resized from any edge or corner, minimized to the taskbar, and maximized to fill the screen. On mobile, windows open maximized by default.

Right-Click Menu

Right-click the desktop (or long-press on mobile) for a context menu with:

• Arrange Icons to reset icon positions
• Refresh to replay the boot sequence
• Properties to open the about page

Hidden Things

There are a couple of easter eggs tucked into the desktop. One involves the Recycle Bin. Another involves the boot sequence. I’ll let you find them.

The Terminal

Open MS-DOS Prompt from Start > Programs and type help to see available commands. It runs on Neosoft Wimbows 99 [Version 99.0.1998].

On Mobile

Everything works on phones. Tap to open. Long-press the desktop for the context menu. Windows open fullscreen and the taskbar collapses to save space.

Coming Soon

A few things currently in the works:

• Web browser that can actually browse the internet, right from the desktop. Inception-level browsing.
• Multiplayer fishing game because every desktop needs one.
• SAM (Software Automatic Mouth) text-to-speech, straight from 1982.

That’s It

Poke around, open some windows, break some things. That’s what desktops are for.