I feel the exact same way. I’m grateful for modern computers and what they can do, but I think the substrates of Lisp and Smalltalk machines make building flexible component-based software easier than the Linux, Windows, and Web ecosystems we have today. If I had the spare time, I’d work on a modern-day OS inspired by the Lisp and Smalltalk environments of old.

If I had the time and the money, I’d like to pick up where Xerox PARC left off when they stopped working on Smalltalk, Cedar, Mesa, and similar projects. I’m also very fascinated by Apple projects of the 1990s such as SK8, Dylan, and the original proposal for a Lisp-based Newton. During the “interregnum” years at Apple many people with interesting ideas on system design and usability worked at Apple, such as Don Norman and Larry Tesler. I’m grateful for Steve Jobs’ return and for NeXT-based macOS, but unfortunately as time passed by, the Smalltalk, Lisp, and even NeXT influences at Apple faded away. It would be cool if somebody continued this vision. I’d do it in a heartbeat if I had the time and the financial resources.