SUMMARY I read KDE's name was inspired by CDE which I know imitated Win3 which I preferred aspects (but seem absent). STEPS TO REPRODUCE 1. Read history KDE name was inspired by CDE. 2. Look for superior CDE usability (Windows 3, Win3-inspired). OBSERVED RESULT I read KDE's name was inspired by CDE which I know imitated Win3 which I preferred aspects. Win3 had program manager/groups which was still usable in Win95/98 (and WinME?). I always liked program manager/groups but always abhorred (to this day) Win95 (to Win10) inferior start menu which became (Ns)CDE & KDEs kmenu/kicker/kickoff. Win3 program groups show any or all groups of only-related programs wth large/recognizable icons and could start as many you want in one go from still-open groups and be reminded what else one might want/need to start (or optionally minimize). Start & applications menus were regression to one-at-a-time text & less-reocgnizable small icons: rather than one go you reopen menu over & over, maybe 10 or 20+ times (typically 20 to 30+ for me and I know some who use more) let alone mouse slips on very position-sensitive menu that opens/causes many mistakes and can take many more seconds to reopen than a still-program group, and when you start a few/couple and are doing another but then one takes 'current focus' status and closes to draw over start/application menu (or even doesn't draw over at all but goes to other side but still closes menu(!))) and in contrast start/application menus can't remain open for reminder while using other programs. I'd like back whatever Win3-style KDE program groups--whatever you call them--may have made inspired by CDE (or do they still exist hidden? Then unhide them) and might even remove kicker afterwards, because that Win95 aspect always was--and still is--worst (and has only gotten worse as in its newer-style imitation reported elsewhere). Apparently some KDE (and GNOME/Ubuntu/etc.?) people realized Win3 had a good idea and Win3 start menu was a regression, but maybe mostly weren't win3 users, because they made almost-similar fullscreen menu/launcher--also inferior to Win3: can't view all program groups same time as using other programs. No other UI was as good except classic Apple with sytem menu bar that could have each application menu bar attached/underneath (as in KDE3, but of course both lacked superior Win3-style program groups, and Windows always lacked superior Apple-style top bars). I was most productive in (Apple &) Win3: I much more quickly saw what I had, and started all I wanted from all groups in one go, but still saw what else I may use later, or otherwise minimized, and could come back and do same repeatedly. KDE-style launchers were almost as good until I filled half taskbar with 20 or 30+ most-used programs but of course unable to immediately see related utilities. EXPECTED RESULT Allow/add all historical menu/launcher types from where you get your name. SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS Linux/KDE Plasma: NetBSD & FreeBSD & Slackware post-2002-4-3 (and maybe earlier) to current-day KDE Plasma Version: 3, 4, 5 to 5.25.3 KDE Frameworks Version: 3, 4, 5 to 5.96.0 Qt Version: 3, 4, 5 to 5.18.15 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Intended importance is 'wishlist' which I forgot about because made suggestions which would save users a large amount of time daily but were just closed rather than maybe being considered by more than one person.
> STEPS TO REPRODUCE > 1. Read history KDE name was inspired by CDE. > 2. Look for superior CDE usability (Windows 3, Win3-inspired). The bug tracker is for actionable bug reports or feature requests. "Be more like [other thing]" isn't something that can be discussed in a bug report; it's just not the right place for it. See https://community.kde.org/Get_Involved/Issue_Reporting#Step_1:_Make_sure_it.27s_a_valid_bug_or_feature_request. Please use the bug tracker to report *specific* bugs or feature requests. If any of those bug reports you open happen to be rejected or closed because the design of the system today is intentionally different from how you'd prefer, you have a few options: 1. Find a 3rd-party widget that does what you want. 2. Patch the code yourself to do what you want, then keep that patch yourself or distribute it in the form of a 3rd-party widget you can share with others. 3. Pay a developer to do #2 for you. 4. Abandon KDE and find a new environment that behaves how you want; there's no shortage of choice in the FOSS world!
This feature was actionable 32 years ago including in what inspired KDE. It's one of the simplest feature requests.