re: GUI
There was a neat one I had on my Win98 OS before I loaded Win 2000 and couldn't get at it again.
It was kinda neat, one could choose various themes, types of architecture, then there were rooms and areas within the rooms. Looking out the windows the weather changed, it was light or dark depending upon the time, and the scene changed with the season of the year.
I thought it was slick, I'll see if I can find it.
Arf