Windows 8 Desktop Environment for Linux
Ranked 11 of 24 desktop environments by recommenders
A Metro-style Linux desktop that people praise for its typography and for suiting phones and tablets, but critics find the look and UX poor compared with Windows 8.
A Metro-style Linux desktop that people praise for its typography and for suiting phones and tablets, but critics find the look and UX poor compared with Windows 8.
19 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 6
- approval share
- 68%
Recommended in 1 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 2.2 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Suits mobile and tablet Linux
“I would be okay to use this DE on a mobile Linux but I'm afraid the usability on desktop is going to suffer”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Windows 8 Desktop Environment for Linux” “I want this for everything, including my phone, tablet, and tele!”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Windows 8 Desktop Environment for Linux” “This would be nice for a Linux phone.”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Windows 8 Desktop Environment for Linux” Revives Windows 8 style on Linux
“This implementation gets one thing most Metro clones miss, i.e the typography as structure paradigm.”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Windows 8 Desktop Environment for Linux” “Glad to see an attempt to revive it on Linux”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Windows 8 Desktop Environment for Linux”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Looks poor compared to Windows 8
“Sadly, this clone looks very‐very bad, just like millions of WP8‐like launchers”
Comment from 13 Jan 2026 in “Windows 8 Desktop Environment for Linux” “the actual UI and UX are abysmal compared to what Windows 8 was”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “Windows 8 Desktop Environment for Linux”
Other desktop environments people recommend
The four most recommended other desktop environments, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KDE Plasma | 650 | 264 | 71% | 13 | 2 yrs79 owners | Approved |
| GNOME | 340 | 464 | 42% | 12 | 5 yrs29 owners | — |
| Xfce | 183 | 48 | 79% | 12 | 10 yrs29 owners | Approved |
| COSMIC desktop | 75 | 28 | 73% | 12 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| Windows 8 Desktop Environment for LinuxThis page | 13 | 6 | 68% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
16 of the 19 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“this would make a nice kid-friendly OS”
“Sadly, this clone looks very‐very bad, just like millions of WP8‐like launchers”
“Please permanently delete this repo forever.”
“No one wanted this on Windows back when it was released.”
“install it on your linux servers and hate it even more”
“I like the idea but looking at the pictures I can't get past the lock screen”
“This would be nice for a Linux phone.”
“the actual UI and UX are abysmal compared to what Windows 8 was”
“I would be okay to use this DE on a mobile Linux but I'm afraid the usability on desktop is going to suffer”
“Nice to see it uses Qt C++ and QML”
“it surfaces the app launchers as the protagonists of my workflow”
“Glad to see an attempt to revive it on Linux”
“This implementation gets one thing most Metro clones miss, i.e the typography as structure paradigm.”
“Probably nice on a tablet.”
“Seeing it might have something called 'common sense' over 'org driven design'”
“I want this for everything, including my phone, tablet, and tele!”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.