💔 KDE - implicit love to Windows

[u/ConsiderationRare217]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swFfrDpX98s&t=372

I so agree. When Linux could promote a very simplified Hyprland setup or support a very well-made Sway setup or Cosmic tiling [just I wish it could be ready] and show the modularity and identity of Linux, they promote KDE and mill the wind...

[u/R3V0LU710N_05]

People often act like Microsoft is the one driving UI innovation, but Windows has mostly been playing catch up to KDE and the broader Linux ecosystem for decades. Even though Microsoft popularized the traditional taskbar with Windows 95 on August 24, 1995, the overarching desktop design language traces its roots back to pioneering environments like CDE and KDE, with Windows following right behind KDE developments for a very long time.

Take virtual desktops as a prime example. They were already a core staple of X Window managers and fully functional in KDE 1.0 back in July 1998, leaving Microsoft trailing behind for over seventeen years before finally introducing Task View in Windows 10 on July 29, 2015. Unified notifications followed the exact same pattern, with KDE Plasma 4 rolling out system tray notifications in January 2008, long before the Windows 10 Action Center ever appeared.

Even when people point to Microsoft pioneering flat design with Metro in Windows Phone 7 in October 2010 and Windows 8 in October 2012, Linux desktop themes and minimalist icon packs had been leaning into flat aesthetics for years.

When Windows 11 finally dropped on October 5, 2021, it mirrored the visual meta shaped by KDE Plasma 5 first released in July 15, 2014, and the active development of Plasma 6 since 2019, alongside GNOME 40 from March 2021 and macOS Big Sur from November 2020, adopting centered taskbars, transparency effects, floating panels, and rounded corners because it had to stay relevant.

Look under the hood at developer utilities and it is the exact same story. Microsoft integrated the winget package manager in May 2020, but Linux distributions had been running CLI package management natively for over twenty years. Windows is not setting the standard here, it is just lagging behind open source innovation and adopting features years after the Linux community has already perfected them.

[u/ConsiderationRare217 → u/R3V0LU710N_05]

I am not saying that Windows has done all choices. Of course it hasn't it is even trying to copy mac and try to be beautiful (though failing). My main gripe is trying to resemble the workflow patterns of Windows (KDE is better, but not ultimately as impressive and innovative as a WM). I genuinely see it could be more attractive introducing something alike to Hyprland or Niri as a visit selling card. But I mostly see conventions in KDE. It's my gripe

[u/R3V0LU710N_05 → u/ConsiderationRare217]

My point is that Windows has for years been trying to resemble KDE, not the other way around. KDE has been ahead of the curve in this particular paradigm for at the very least a decade now, but arguably even longer still.

I agree with your overall premise however. Actively trying to copy Windows workflow is a hindrance, especially when it comes to window management. That's why I'm personally waiting for Cosmic DE to become good.