Windows EXPERIENCE Freestyle Update is a free mod that does a fantastic job for those who want to use a modern operating system like Windows 10, but with the aesthetics of a mythical version like Windows XP.

We are not talking about proof of concept here, but about fully functional version available for download and use. After several test and review versions, its author travis#2800 says that this version will be the last “unless there are new discoveries that make Windows 10 more faithful to Windows XP”.

The truth is that it will be difficult to improve this version because it is the best we have seen when we modified Windows 10 and converted it to XP. Naturally, there are known issues with this development. Like changing the official “Luna” theme to any other, which may cause the screen to go black and disconnect the user from the desktop, or any DPI scaling above 100% cannot be used.

There are several other errors that do not have a solution. Obviously, not intended for use on production equipment, because of the mentioned errors and because it is not an official version of Windows, which always has its problems. But if you want to try it on an older PC or virtual machine, you can recall the simplicity and unique aesthetics of Windows XP.

Windows EXPERIENCE Freestyle Update is freely available from the Internet Archive. It installs in the same way as an official version like Windows 10 22H2, after downloading the 3.2GB ISO image and preparing the bootable media. You can also install it in a virtual machine; an ideal method for testing this type of development as it does not affect the main system that acts as the host.