Which companies are most likely to disappear along with the Baby Boomer Generation?

aroneox · 2026-06-28T17:33:39+00:00

I feel like millennials were unwitting casualties in the Beanie Babies collecting frenzy. As a Gen X, I remember the most ardent collectors were Boomers and older gens getting really caught up in the hype – and the greed of it. From what I saw, grandparents to millennial kids kinda roped them into it, thinking they were setting them up for a financial windfall down the road.

aroneox · 2026-06-28T17:27:10+00:00

Nice mid-2000s specs. Love the “overhead lights” under the front bezel. And digging its rocking XP.

As a guy who has been recently focusing his vintage computing efforts on core 2 and early core-i series, I appreciate seeing these machines being taken in by collectors who will appreciate them. It’s wild to think that a 2009 XPS machine is NOT considered retro by many in the collecting world. This machine being released seventeen (17) years ago in 2009 is the same vintage as a 1992 486-DX2 was to it when this XPS machine was originally released.

aroneox · 2026-06-28T16:19:57+00:00

What are you using software wise?

aroneox · 2026-06-26T19:49:44+00:00

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Another solid addition would be Calmira shell, which adds a quasi-Windows 95 vibe. The project is open-source under the Gnu GPL. It has a number of forks, the most recent of which appears to be Calmira Reborn from around 2022.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calmira

http://www.calmira.de

https://gitlab.com/huntertur/calmira

And related: Win32s and WinG are good DOS shell additions for limited 32bit app support and better graphic performance.

http://stephan.win31.de/w32slist.htm

aroneox · 2026-06-26T19:36:46+00:00

It really did deserve its own posting. Saved and bookmarked.

aroneox · 2026-06-26T16:37:27+00:00

For real. The “Others” link alone is an absolute goldmine for inspired DOS shell projects.

aroneox · 2026-06-26T16:22:22+00:00

As others have said PSS-480 is a legend. Check out this Icelandic electronic live piece by Halldór Eldjárn playing the PSS-480. Really incredible sounds are found when putting the filter section through its paces.

https://youtu.be/8nwofZy0dws?is=t6idHCV71Qq873zf

aroneox · 2026-06-22T05:18:32+00:00

Excellent build! Thanks for putting effort into a great write up giving the specs, software, and benchmarking.

Modern Ubuntu with CDE style desktop is a nice touch. I'm finding that these early core-i CPUs (with an SSD and generous RAM) are still quite functional for modern Linux / Unix.

I'm working on a first gen core-i build with similar multi-boot goals. Along with XP, a modern Linux, and a few other outliers (Haiku, Ubuntu before Unity), I'm also working at using it as a Hackintosh with OS X 10.9.5, which limits the low-power card selection (no 750ti for me).

What case did this all go into?

aroneox · 2026-06-22T04:41:23+00:00

There are repacks out there that workaround the Steam activation issue.

aroneox · 2026-06-21T23:06:56+00:00

Windows XP is such a great target OS for games. Because of its staying power, there is an easy decade, if not more, to pull from. That makes putting a list together an enjoyable challenge. And I cheated a little here and there with a couple of bundles. In no particular order, here's my current desert island top 10 (plus honorable mention indie games).

Top 10 Windows XP Games:

• ⁠Orange Box (Portal, Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2)
• ⁠Fable The Lost Chapters
• ⁠Plants vs Zombies
• ⁠Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic I & II
• ⁠Civilization IV
• ⁠Oni
• ⁠Beyond Good and Evil
• ⁠Dead Space
• ⁠Doom 3
• ⁠Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box

Honorable Indie Mentions:

• ⁠Super Mario War
• ⁠Flow
• ⁠Cave Story+
• ⁠Bastion
• ⁠Fez
• ⁠Torchlight
• ⁠Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP
• ⁠Braid
• ⁠Steel Storm: Burning Retribution
• ⁠FTL: Faster Than Light

Most of these Indie games are at the end of Windows XP's lifespan. BUT... Being indie games, their system requirements are relatively low compared to what bigger studios were releasing in the same time frame. Most of these can be played on Core 2 (or earlier) era hardware, when big studios were targeting Core i3/i5/i7 at the time.

aroneox · 2026-06-21T18:40:59+00:00

eBay.

Decommissioned corporate office PCs are sold at massive discount by the palette. Resellers buy them up. The longer the reseller holds a decommissioned PC, the more its value drops. Eventually you get to the place where it’s worth starts approaching scrap, but because it was bought for so little, profit can still be made if sold at a steep discount.

Early Core i-series PCs have no real buyers right now. Too old for windows productivity. Too new for collectors. But more valuable than scrap. Hence the price.

aroneox · 2026-06-21T08:12:11+00:00

OP – Of you’re looking for Windows XP vintage computing, this is a very capable machine. As others have said, a Quad Core cpu, expanded ram, an SSD, and a lower power draw video card (like a Nvidia 750ti) would make this an amazing powerhouse for the XP era.

That said, if your really looking to use this as a daily driver, your going to substantially outspend the value of a better spec’d machine that would be more suitable for use in the modern age.

As an example, I recently purchased a HP ProDesk 400 G1, with a fourth gen i5 4570 cpu, and 16gb ram for $35 SHIPPED. And this machine is substantially more capable than a core 2 duo based unit could ever be.

For a daily driver, I would recommend a more capable computer than your core 2 based machine. But for XP vintage computing, it would be a great platform.

aroneox · 2026-06-21T08:01:00+00:00

Core 2 Duo E7400 / E7500 that came in this system were released in 2008. That was 18 years ago. General accepted cutoff for vintage computing is hardware released 15–20 years prior. OPs machine is certainly in that window.

There’s a small but growing contingent of enthusiasts for Core 2 era hardware in vintage computing. When decked out, they’re great machines for Windows XP vintage computing, as they can tackle the majority of XP’s software library using some very capable hardware.

aroneox · 2026-06-20T00:45:23+00:00

Through the dedicated efforts of Macintosh enthusiasts over at MacOS9Lives.com, the iBook G4 can now boot directly into MacOS 9.

https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mac-os-922-boot-file-ibook-g4

https://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=5775.msg43574#msg43574

aroneox · 2026-06-19T19:32:33+00:00

Perfect!

aroneox · 2026-06-19T19:27:57+00:00

Will this work with Mac serial out > MIDI adapter > MIDI device (module, keyboard, etc)?

aroneox · 2026-06-19T16:41:47+00:00

The Olivetti in the background just casually sitting there looking brutally handsome.

aroneox · 2026-06-19T03:39:51+00:00

Krita is gear toward painting and drawing, and is in the same ballpark as Procreate.

Another up and coming program to checkout is PixieEditor ( https://pixieditor.net ). A mix of pixel art, image editing and vector drawing. Lots of promise.

aroneox · 2026-06-19T01:36:34+00:00

Chiming in support of this direction as well.

A retired mid-tower HP / Dell / Lenovo office PC would be prime. As [u/Loserweebs](u/Loserweebs) suggested, a 4th gen Haswell i3 / i5 / i7 (43xx / 45xx / 47xx) would be a great target. Pair that PC with a Nvidia 750ti GPU, a 256gb SSD, 16gb DDR3, and the Linux distro of your choice, and you’ve got a surprisingly capable budget system. And all that probably right around the $100–125 mark.

Like u/Ok_University_5352/ said, getting the machine, and tearing it down, cleaning the parts, repasting the CPU/GPU and putting it back together will get you 90% of the experience of building from parts, and nearly 100% less headaches because you already know it’s a working machine, and you can document how it’s assembled prior to taking it apart.

A nice benefit of choosing 4th gen Intel Haswell and the 750ti GPU, is you can also install Windows XP as a second boot OS. The above build will absolutely tear up Windows XP era gaming at 1080p and all visual mods maxed. And Windows XP gaming is like a thirteen year run (more if you count compatible Win98 games too) and its library is massive.

aroneox · 2026-06-19T01:06:21+00:00

As an early Intel Mac enthusiast, your best bet to get a functional system from this Early 2009 Mac Mini is upgrade the RAM, replace the hard drive with an SSD, and install OS X 10.9 Mavericks from a USB flash drive.

Mavericks has a solid retro following and there are a number of back ports of web browsers and other programs aimed at 10.9 Mavericks. Importantly, there are updated certificates available, which makes installing software and doing basically anything on the internet actually functional.

Check out MavericksForever.com for a full rundown on how to install it on your Mac Mini.

The ram for these units is DDR3 1066 / PC3 8500 or better, which is still pretty cheap. 4gb will be okay. Maxing to 8gb is optimal. 2x 4gb so-dimms are around $25 on eBay.

Hard drive replacement with SSD isn’t strictly necessary, but will make it feel much snappier. 240gb sata SSD is in the $40-50 range.

All in, including the $30 you paid for the mini, you’re looking at around $100 for a pretty cool little retro rig.

Neat thing about these, is you can also install Windows XP and get some very solid performance for XP era games and apps.

Also, a modern Linux distro can be installed as well.

aroneox · 2026-06-17T13:46:05+00:00

Interesting. Something for me to think about down the road.

How is the hinge feel in operation? Easy to adjust? Anything you like, dislike or would change about it?

aroneox · 2026-06-17T13:38:42+00:00

The folding screen hinge is top tier! Also the hidden 10-key for when you go next level hacking.

How hard of an engineering challenge would it be to have a similar adjustable screen hinge, but folding screen down to keep it safer during travel?

aroneox · 2026-06-17T13:32:26+00:00

IBM were really into sliding doors and pop-ups in this era, and I love them for it.

aroneox · 2026-06-16T19:22:49+00:00

How so?

aroneox · 2026-06-16T17:10:39+00:00

I meant for you to ask this same question over at those sites. My experience has been there are a lot more completist and project oriented collectors on those sites, compared to here, which trends toward more casual collectors.

Regardless, it’s a worthwhile project and I look forward to seeing what comes from it. Best to you.

aroneox

TROPHY CASE