Old-Generation Laptop Found Running UI from 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'

Back in the late '90s, laptops and IBM's ThinkPad line in particular were still new enough to seem like something out of Star Trek—and apparently someone back in that day pushed that concept to its limits and decked out their pad with a custom Star Trek interface.

Twenty years after the laptop was released, Imgur user chrisman01 bought the ThinkPad 365XD in question for just five bucks. Upon opening it, he found the installed Windows 98 operating system custom designed to look like the monitors Data and Worf might have used in Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Alas, it's not so original as it initially seems. Aging Star Trek nerds like me readily recognize it LCARS24 GUI, which you can still download on SourceForge today. Even so, chrisman01's find is still remarkable since it captures a moment in time.

Not only is the operating system running on a '90s machine, but the ThinkPad itself is also stuffed with oddities like a glossary of Australian slang and a DOS version of Tetris. There aren't any personal photos, but there are "a lot of Star Trek wallpapers." Chrisman01 shows that the computer lists a date of February 2008, which he believes is the last time it held a charge.

The magic ended when chrisman01 pressed F10, which warped him back to the regular Windows 98 interface, where apparently the original user's AOL Instant Messenger was still signed in and ready to go. There's no word as to whether chrisman01 tried to contact him or her to find out if they lived long and prospered.