Sound design mattered. Each click produced a tiny chime that could double as a reassurance. Error alerts were theatrical—dialog boxes with bolded exclamations that read like temperate scolds. The system tray held icons for programs you half-remembered: an instant messenger, a defunct media player, an update notifier that refused to die. You hovered and recalled the thrill of a new IM ping: another person, somewhere, choosing to be present.

In a corner, a browser booted with a search engine that offered whims instead of answers. Tabs proliferated like paper on a desk. A Flash animation flickered for a second — a relic refusing to stay buried — and you felt an odd protective fondness for it, like finding a vinyl record in a crate of MP3s.

: Start the VM and follow the on-screen prompts. You can usually skip the product key to use it in trial mode.