arman - Stardance

Ship

@arman on aeroOS · 5 days ago

What did I make?
I built AeroOS! It's a fully functional, browser based desktop OS that's basically a love letter to the "Frutiger Aero" the popular aesthetic of mid 2000s (think Windows Vista, Windows 7, and early Mac OS X). I built a custom window manager so you can drag and minimize windows, added a 3D glass dock with that classic magnification effect on hover, and threw in a bunch of skeuomorphic apps. right now, it has a Notepad, a detailed mechanical analog clock, a live weather dashboard, and a Welcome app.

What was challenging?
Honestly, nailing the aesthetic was the hardest part. It is surprisingly difficult to recreate authentic 2000s glass UI using modern CSS. If you aren't careful, it just ends up looking like modern Apple glassmorphism. Getting that true Frutiger Aero vibe meant stacking crazy complex box shadows, using sharp 50% split linear gradients to get those harsh glass cuts, and layering inner white borders so the UI actually looks like thick, physical acrylic glass.

What am I proud of?
As a person who loves designing as much as I love web dev, I'm proud of how I was able to blend those two together. I'm really proud of the details, like the vista pearl CSS orb, the red counterweight on the analog clock’s second hand, and the custom Vista style cyan loading ring. Seeing all those tedious, tiny CSS tweaks finally come together into a desktop that actually feels like a real machine from 2007 is just incredibly satisfying.
How to test it?
Just head over to https://aero-os.vercel.app/ and you'll be on the desktop. Have fun!

3 devlogs
2h
WebOS 1

Try project → See source code →

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@arman on aeroOS · 5 days ago

46m 18s logged

built 2 more apps for aeroOS

notpad: the notes persist and added bold, italic and underline text formatting too
weather: the app supports realtime search using geocoding api and providing weather results using open meteo api

added top menu bar, showing the focused app name on left and icons, time on right.

also updated dock, removed the time and moved it to top menu bar.

wallpaper switcher now supports links, also the wallpapers persist on reload.

what we do next?
polish and ship 😁

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@arman on aeroOS · 7 days ago

53m 19s logged

added a bunch of new features to AeroOS!!
statred from a mini dock (temp right now) on bottom left to change wallpapers
improved dock design and animation
built window component and window manager
built 2 simple apps - clock and welcome

what we do next?
build advance apps

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@arman on aeroOS · 8 days ago

26m 50s logged

Js started working on AeroOS, based on frutiger aero design aesthetic, which was really popular during the time i was born
anyways
tech stack: next js with tailwind

what we do next?
improve the desktop then we move to apps

Ship

@arman on meowOS · 12 days ago

What did I make?
A browser based desktop OS. It has a boot screen, a window manager, a taskbar, desktop widgets, and seven apps and its all cat themed.
You can open and drag windows around, change your wallpaper, use a terminal, write notes, check the time. It actually feels like an OS, which was the whole point.

Live at https://meowos-web.vercel.app

What was challenging?
SSR kept biting me. Next.js renders on the server first, so anything touching localStorage or window would crash on Vercel even when it worked fine locally. Took a while to track down every spot that needed a guard.
The window maximize animation also gave me grief windows would snap and drag at the same time in this weird magnet effect. Fixed it by separating animation state from logical state so the transition only fires during the toggle, not while dragging.
I also tried adding route transition fades between boot, shutdown, and desktop. Spent a few hours on it, kept breaking things, eventually just cut it.

What am I proud of?
The boot screen. Kernel text prints line by line, fades into a paw icon, then routes to the desktop. It's a small thing but it makes the whole OS feel real.

How to test it?
Go to https://meowos-web.vercel.app
you'll land on the shutdown screen, click to boot.

3 devlogs
9h

Try project → See source code →

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@arman on meowOS · 12 days ago

3h 6m 41s logged

well its done guys

what i built?

i actually had no idea what to start with, i saw a webOS listed, thought it was pretty cool…
i love cats, so why not build a cat-styled OS?
u guys can check it out
here: https://meowos-web.vercel.app/

whats next?

just check it out guys (pls 🙏)

note

i wrote a highly technical long dev log but it all vanished when i closed the tab accidently, i dont have energy left to write all over again 😔😔

also follow me on github
https://github.com/armansinghh

thanks y’all

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@arman on meowOS · 14 days ago

5h 5m 18s logged

Spent a lot of time this session just making things feel right 😮‍💨

Added boot screen and the best part…
Rebuilt most of the apps from scratch basically.
PawWatch now has an actual analog clock face with cat ears on top and a digital readout next to it.
MeowPad got autosave, word count and char limit.
PawShell now remembers your command history and arrow keys work just like a real terminal.
The settings app (PawNel) got a full sidebar layout, a live desktop preview when picking wallpapers, and an About page showing the stack.

Also added two new apps:
File Cat-alog is a file explorer with a fake filesystem you can navigate.
Also added PrrSurf, it is a browser with a cat themed homepage with shortcuts to Wikipedia, AccuWeather, and Excalidraw.

Taskbar got cleaned up too, the paw menu and control center both feel much more polished now.
Honestly meowOS is starting to look like something I’d actually want to use.

Next up is some final polish and getting it ready to ship 😝

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@arman on meowOS · 18 days ago

1h 17m 13s logged

Built the core of meowOS today!!!
A fully working window manager in the browser. Windows are draggable, resizable, and stack correctly when focused.

4 apps so far:
Clock - live time and date
Text Editor - write and save notes, persists with localStorage
Terminal - commands like help, meow, echo, date
Settings - pick from 4 cat wallpapers, choice saves across sessions

Stack: Next.js, Tailwind, Zustand, react-rnd, react-icons.
Next up: File Explorer and Browser app.