I'm having a flashback to the late 90s! Jack Wallen/ZDNET
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A Linux developer has decided to fork the OG KDE desktop.
Currently in beta, MiDesktop is still rough around the edges.
You can try MiDesktop on Debian Trixie or Ubuntu Noble Numbat.
Ah, KDE 1. I remember it well. I was there, back in the beta days of the original KDE desktop, and it was exciting. All of a sudden, Linux wasn't under the thrall of CDE and Fvwm95. We had something modern on the horizon, and it looked to be special.
I still remember the first time I tried KDE 1. I felt as if I'd been beamed into the future of Linux, and what I saw would usher in a new era for the open-source desktop. KDE 1 was light-years ahead of what the Linux desktop had been, and there was nothing that could top it.
Those were days, for certain. I won't call them "the good old days" because I try to live in the now as much as possible. What I will say is that there was definitely an air of palpable excitement in the Linux community.
The development of KDE 1 began in 1996. Thirty years later, there's now a project that aims to bring that old-school desktop back to life. The project in question is called MiDesktop. If you're a fan of old-school Linux charm, you're gonna love this.
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