5 retro Home windows apps which can be nonetheless alive and nicely in 2025

Abstract

As a platform, the Home windows working system has been round for a number of a long time.
Over the course of years, Home windows has been the beneficiary of a wealthy ecosystem of PC packages and functions.
Listed here are 5 iconic retro Home windows apps that I all the time had put in on my PC again within the Nineties and early 2000s, and that also exist in the marketplace to this very day.

For those who’re wherever close to as outdated as I’m, you then’ll recall the PC period of the Nineties and the early 2000s: a time when cumbersome beige packing containers dominated the roost, when

Windows
was nonetheless a extremely crash-prone affair, and when packages had been downloaded from the online versus the Microsoft Retailer.

A lot has changed over the years
, with each first-party and third-party Home windows software program having developed with the instances. The

modern PC app ecosystem
is bustling with power, however for each modern new expertise on the market, there is a legacy program nonetheless prospering on nostalgia, advantage, or generally a mix of each.

Listed here are 5 retro Home windows apps specifically that I all the time had put in on my

PC
again within the day, and that proceed to outlive (and to an extent, thrive) even within the 12 months 2025.

Microsoft Windows Movie Maker and Live Messenger header

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1

Winamp (1997)

It actually whips the llama

Winamp

Winamp is a basic media participant program for Home windows, providing customizable interface skins, music visualization, and an iconic slogan.

Winamp is a well-liked media participant program for Home windows that was first launched in 1997. The app rapidly skyrocketed in recognition, partially owing to its versatile plug-in system, its ecosystem of interface skins, its mesmerizing music visualization function, and its iconic “it actually whips the llama’s ass” slogan.

In comparison with the built-in Home windows Media Participant of the time, Winamp was edgier, extra customizable, and simply plain enjoyable to make use of for sifting via and enjoying again domestically saved music information. Right now, this system stays obtainable beneath a freemium (free however with paid extra options) distribution mannequin, and a dedicated Android version can be obtainable on the Google Play Retailer.

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2

CCleaner (2003)

A storied system cleaner utility

CCleaner

In its heyday, CCleaner was one of the crucial well-liked system cleaner utilities for Home windows, able to eradicating junk information, clearing cookies, and extra.

CCleaner, initially generally known as Crap Cleaner in 2003, is likely one of the most well-known system cleaner apps for Home windows. This system was significantly well-liked again within the Home windows XP, Vista, and seven days, with a reasonably easy interface for clearing browser cookies, non permanent information, cache information, and different junk knowledge.

Personally, I have not put in a devoted cleaner utility like CCleaner onto my PC in years. Fashionable variations of Home windows are greater than able to cleansing up after themselves, and it is not all the time a good suggestion to let third-party apps sweep across the Home windows Registry. I discover CCleaner’s pop-ups incessant, and it has a little bit of a doubtful historical past on the subject of knowledge assortment, software program bundling, and safety vulnerabilities.

The desktop model of CCleaner is free to obtain and set up, and a paid Professional tier can be obtainable with extra superior instruments on the helm. Lately, the app can be downloaded on macOS and Android.

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3

IrfanView (1996)

A basic picture viewing program

IrfanView

IrfanView is a basic picture program for Home windows that permits you to view, edit, set up, and convert your picture information with ease.

IrfanView is a photograph supervisor utility that first hit the Home windows scene in 1996. This system serves as an all-in-one picture viewer, editor, organizer, and converter instrument, providing extra performance than Microsoft’s default Home windows Picture Viewer did on the time.

As with the opposite entries on this listing, IrfanView stays actively supported, and will be downloaded and put in on the most recent launch of Home windows 11. IrfanView is free for private use, with a lot of plug-ins obtainable to complement the bottom expertise of the app.

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4

WinRAR (1995)

Your free trial has expired

WinRAR

A widely known compression instrument that gives loads of archival and extractor choices not discovered natively in Microsoft’s File Explorer app.

There are a variety of iconic compression tools obtainable for Home windows, together with 7-Zip, WinZip, and NanaZip, however none fairly ring my very own nostalgia bells to the identical extent as WinRAR. First launched in 1995, WinRAR is a full-featured file archiver instrument that’s suitable with RAT and ZIP codecs.

Other than being a extremely helpful utility, WinRAR has entered popular culture meme standing as a result of its notorious trialware distribution mannequin. The trial model of the app has an on-paper expiration date, however you’ll be able to proceed to make use of the app in perpetuity with out paying a dime. Lately, a separate Android version of the app merely generally known as RAR, can be obtainable for obtain from the Google Play Retailer.

Apple iPod Touch 4G mobile games header image

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5

μTorrent (2005)

An notorious BitTorrent consumer for PC

μTorrent

μTorrent is probably probably the most iconic BitTorrent consumer obtainable on PC, proving significantly well-liked throughout the torrent increase of the mid-2000s.

Again within the early-to-mid-2000s, peer-to-peer file sharing (also referred to as torrenting) grew to become a well-liked internet-connected PC phenomenon. 2005’s μTorrent was (and stays) a go-to BitTorrent consumer for facilitating torrents — the μ prefix represents ‘micro,’ alluding to this system’s light-weight under-the-hood code.

Whereas torrent packages and torrenting itself are each completely authorized, it is unlawful to obtain copywritten works by way of this peer-to-peer methodology of web distribution (generally known as pirating).

Right now, μTorrent continues to be prepared obtainable for obtain, and it may be had without cost. A separate μTorrent Basic version can be obtainable on the product’s official website, which gives a basic interface for followers of the great outdated days of Home windows software program design. μTorrent can be available for Android devices by way of the Google Play Retailer.