The problem of Linux DEs seems to be that they're run by UX geeks. Which makes sense. Who else would be willing to dedicate the amount of time to get them working?
The downside is that utility comes in absolutely last place with UX geeks.
Ergo, you get a full UI redesign at every opportunity.
But... that's why you pay people: to do boring things. Like port an old UI into a more modern underlying framework without changing it.
I find plaingnome on top of Ubuntu not needing any feeling. My kids grew up on that and were really confused and found it hard when they had to use Windows and OSX in school.
I, for one, cannot get my head around the OSX UI, I find it impossible to use.
The downside is that utility comes in absolutely last place with UX geeks.
Ergo, you get a full UI redesign at every opportunity.
But... that's why you pay people: to do boring things. Like port an old UI into a more modern underlying framework without changing it.