Desktop Environments (DE): Windows Copycats and GNOME

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Jan 23, 2026

• PC Gamer ☛ One for the sickos: Linux shell 'revives' Windows 8's infamous tile-based Metro look

  Windows 8 debuted in 2012, introducing desktop users to the blocky Metro design language that had previously worked a treat on Windows Phones and Zunes. However, sans a touch screen, the blocky UI looks cluttered and even feels a smidge claustrophobic on a traditional PC monitor. A lukewarm consumer reception led Windows 8 to drop the blocks from later releases, though some apparently feel a misplaced sense of nostalgia for the funky, chunky interface.

  Win8DE is an attempt to 'revive' Microsoft's tile-based interface, but for Linux. Developer [er-bharat] describes the project as "a shell for wayland window managers like Labwc Hyprland" (via Hackaday).

• ZDNet ☛ Windows 8 lives again on Linux, and I'm just as confused by it as you

  Remember Windows 8? I'm sure I can guess what you remember from that less-than-ideal iteration of Windows. The UI.

  Microsoft decided that a "card-based" interface was the way to go. At the time, they were also leveraging the Windows Phone, and when you compare them side-by-side, you start to understand why they went this route.

  Microsoft wanted to outdo Apple.

• GNOME Desktop/GTK

  • HowTo Geek ☛ GNOME 1.0 vs. GNOME 50: The 26-year evolution of the world's most controversial desktop

    While most desktop environments (DEs) evolve gradually, GNOME prefers dramatic revolutions. I tested all the major GNOME releases over the last weekend, and it was a journey through radical redesigns and shifting ideas about computing paradigms. Here's how it evolved over the last 27 years.

    GNOME 1 (1999-2002): A truly free and open-source (FOSS) desktop environment

    In the late 1990s, personal computing was the next big thing. Microsoft had Windows, Apple had macOS, and Linux entered the game as the free and open-source (FOSS) alternative. However, Linux is just a kernel—not a complete operating system. To turn Linux into a functional personal computer, you need a desktop environment on top of it to provide a graphical user interface.

    At the time, KDE was the leading choice for Linux users. But there was a problem—KDE was built on the Qt toolkit, which used a licensing model that wasn’t compatible with free software principles. This created an uncomfortable situation for a Linux community that valued freedom above all else.