NsCDE: Not So Common Desktop Environment

Huh. I was tempted to dismiss this as a thin skin/theme, but if they've recreated the panel and control panel, maybe it is a thorough clone. The real™ CDE is still alive and works (and open source), but I'll admit something a little less dated is probably easier to work with. Part of the appeal of CDE to me is that it actually had a unified design; in particular, every window had a help menu on the right side with…

One of the big reasons I have always like CDE/Motif was that it, to me, is the epitome of function over form when it comes to a desktop UI and widget toolkit. It's actually the same reason I think the Windows' UI peaked around Windows 98SE. Things that are interactive, like buttons or window frame edges, look interactive and are easy to spot. Buttons look like buttons. Checkboxes look like checkboxes. Contrasting colors are used to separate window frames from…

It is a desktop based on fvwm, implemented as a very heavy theme together with some supporting utilities. It claims that it can enforce the theme across many toolkits. I would be very curious to try it. Also I am impressed that fvwm is still developed. There was a release in july. I wish I would have spent more time understanding this window manager.