early alpha preview uniting all the bad ideas of Windows Vista.
This is exactly how I describe KDE 4. It was in development just as Vista was being demoed and it shows. The entire design of the system appears to have been heavily influenced by a failed MS product and the project is still living with that legacy. Time to go back to the KDE 3 code and start working on KDE 5...
I guess it looks so bad because it is a mediocre interpretation of the UI fads of seven years ago. This is why it is always a good idea not to follow the latest fad, especially if you have constrained development resources. Unfortunately, KDE 5 seems to be headed into a similar direction, copying the latest "flat design" fad, in a rather uninspired fashion. Until KDE 5 is ready, this fad will already have passed.
This is exactly how I describe KDE 4. It was in development just as Vista was being demoed and it shows. The entire design of the system appears to have been heavily influenced by a failed MS product and the project is still living with that legacy. Time to go back to the KDE 3 code and start working on KDE 5...