I built a Windows file manager with no UI framework underneath. Every pixel is drawn by the app itself on a DirectComposition surface — Direct3D 11, Direct2D and DirectWrite, nothing else.
It navigates in columns: each folder you open adds one to the right, so the path you took stays on screen.
329 KB exe. No bundled runtime — it links only what Windows already ships.
C++20, MIT, Windows. Early days.