Go old school, Surf Internet like it’s 1999

Hola amigos! fasten your seatbelts let’s ride on the rollercoaster of creativity we are going back in time. In a recent update figma, which is more than a blast from the past brings up a cute little glimpse of the 1999 retro feel, Where it beautifies the overlapping of the modern digital design world with old-school design. We are going to surf internet like we used to do in 1999. 

Cruising through history:

THE WAY WE use to SURF INTERNET

If we go behind in history in 1968 Douglas Engelbart demonstrated a groundbreaking approach to computing, what is now called “The Mother of all Demos”. The graphical user interface (GUI) to surf internet and the computer programs as we know it now was invented here, as was the mouse. With the mouse, the thing represents the movement of the mouse also invented called the cursor, initially, the cursor was a blurry vertical arrow on the screen. 

On the other end at Xerox’s PARC, they took it to a whole new level, their system adopted almost all ideas of Engelbart, Including the mouse but there was the thing shaped like a little but more powerful thing in the cursor arrow, a pixelated black pointy arrow with no outline.

But wait what? After all the effort Xerox’s CEO did not realize what the team had built but Steve Jobs at Apple did realize that Xeros made a remarkable that needed to be appreciated  Engelbart idea was adopted by Xerox and Apple from Xerox, and Apple modified it, and made it more user-friendly and had great surf internet experience. After that Mircosoft adopted that idea from Apple.

Cursor’s Supremacy

Now comes the era of cursor supremacy,  from the two big players Microsoft and Apple which were keeping it simple. Apple Lisa was presented by Apple the successful Macintosh, surprisingly mouse cursor looked very similar to what it used to be on Xerox, made the tail was shorter kept the big head, and added a white outline to it. 

In 1985 Microsoft released Windows, but it was an inverted color scheme white with a black outline, it was not updated until Windows 95, in that the just refined the shape of the cursor, making it 2 pixels shorter and now sharp pixels on the tip. From the Windows ME, 2000 and to the XP the cursor grew again being 3 pixels taller and one pixel wider, and a shadow was added,  adding more visibility to it. 

Meanwhile, on Apple, the cursor didn’t change a pixel in 22 years. In 2005 with Mac OS Tiger the cursor improved, it got a sharp tip as Windows and tail pixels were removed on top of that it had anti-aliasing and a shadow other than that the shape and size of the cursor remained the same. 

In the year 2006, Microsoft released Windows Vista and its cursor improved quite much, the arrowhead increased by 1 pixel, while the side of the head the tip pixels were removed giving it a slightly rounded appearance, the tail was much shorter and they added anti-alias and added subtle gradient. The cursor remains the same in Windows 7. 

Back to Apple, In 2012 apple introduced its first computer with a Retina HD display. The shapes are less pixelated on this display so the cursor, But the shape of the cursor didn’t change and, probably never will gain. Maybe they make the corner a little rounded or decrease the shadow at some point. In Windows, from Windows 8 till Windows 10 starting in 2015 the shape remained the same but the gradient was removed and the shadow was turned off by default. It change the feel to surf internet.

Fun Era for Digital Design:

THE WAY WE NOW SURF INTERNET

But that was the boring history the fun part is ahead, The year was 1999 very exciting starting the Boris Yeltsin was retired and Vladimir Putin became the new president of Russia and Lana Wachowski released all time super hit movie called Matrix and broke he whole cinema record. 

Microsoft launched in recent years its remarkable product called Office 2000 and entered the 3rd generation of technology. Technology was booming at the speed of light. In this era, Another thing started to happen, Customised cursor, hell yeah. The boring white and black cursors were not the preference of anyone, the era was flushing with new cursors and they were cool as hell. Let me add a sneak peek below to give a cool glimpse of the past or more than a blast from the past.

Figma April Fun Day

Picture this, You’re going on a cyberspace adventure or having a cup of nostalgia, and suddenly stumble upon Figma April Fun Day Week. Which is a time machine that brings you back to the 90’s era and help you to surf internet like good old days. Well, Amigos, It’s a very creative and nostalgic ride to the start of the era of digital design.

Can’t celebrate without going a little extra, you know what I mean? That’s where the old-school cursor comes into play, inspired by historic digital art styles: 8-bit, Y2K, Aero, and Skeuomorphic. Figma comes up with some of the coolest cursor types you rarely see these days on the internet that give you very nostalgic vibes. Prepared to spirit you off on a fantastical journey.

1: 8 Bit

Let’s start with the 8-bit cursor, a pixelated icon that reminds you arcade gaming.Trying it give you vibe of era of arcade, Satisfying sound sounds of bleeps and bloops evocative, and gives you warmth of nostalgia.

2: Y2K

Secondly, we have a Y2K cursor, sleek and graphical that evokes the early 2000s. It has the modern look of that era giving it a futuristic feel back in 2000. Design is colorful, and vibrant it is like sitting in a time machine and cruising straight to the dawn of a new millennium.

3: Aero

Next in line, we have the Aero Cursor, a sleek gem inspired by the user interface design of Microsoft’s Aero theme in Windows Vista. It has transparency in its design and smooth animation giving a very compact and modern look.

4: Skeuomorphic 

Last but not least in the row we have Skeuomorphic cursor. Its design swiftly replicates real-world objects with high-density texture and playful shadows. It is more like the physical world imbued into digital design, creating a touch of whimsy. 

Conclusion

And there you have it! This whimsical journey through internet history is brought to you by Figma’s April Fun Day Week. So, dive into the nostalgia choose your favorite retro cursor, and surf the internet the we used to do. After all, in our wonderfully wacky world, there’s always space for a touch of playful indulgence.