Show HN: I Recreated the Windows Longhorn (2004) Aurora Effect in HTML5 Canvas

3 points

6 months ago

I've spent some time reverse-engineering and recreating the original "Aurora" animation from the unreleased Windows Longhorn Build 4074 (2004).

For those unfamiliar: Longhorn was the precursor to Vista. It promised a revolutionary UI based on the Avalon engine (WPF). The Aurora effect was a key part of this "Aero" vision, meant to be rendered procedurally without hitting the CPU too hard.

In the leaked Build 4074, the effect was technically broken/hidden because the default "Jade" theme didn't support it, and the BAML (Binary Application Markup Language) files used a deprecated format that the system parser couldn't handle properly.

I took the original XAML definitions and logic and ported them 1:1 to modern HTML5 Canvas shapes and animations. It’s a tribute to the Microsoft pioneers who were working on "Liquid Glass" aesthetics 21 years before it became a trend again.

It runs entirely in the browser. Added some nice toggles as well

The code is open source, enjoy the nostalgia trip!

Github: https://github.com/brainvine/longhorn-aurora

Live demo: https://longhorn-aurora.dannydekruijk.workers.dev/