For the longest time, KDE mostly vanished from the radar of most Linux users and media alike. Why? For many, the evolution to a more modern metaphor for the desktop (such as Ubuntu Unity, or GNOME 3) took precedence over the old taskbar/start menu style. For others, KDE went through a period where the desktop simply wasn’t stable. The evolution from KDE 3 to KDE 4 was a bumpy transition that knocked a lot of users off the bandwagon and onto smoother rides.
And then came the transition from KDE 4 to KDE 5. Little changed, but the faithful few users KDE enjoyed did see a much more reliable desktop come to fruition. Unfortunately, the timing didn’t work out, and KDE continued its existence relegated to the shadows of Unity, GNOME 3, Mate, Cinnamon, and Elementary.
To recover a bit of that lost ground, the KDE developers opted to fork Ubuntu into KDE Neon. The launch of Neon didn’t quite go as planned (and the initial release wasn’t exactly stable). Since then, however, the project has managed to pull off something quite intriguing. KDE Neon takes the stability of Ubuntu 16.04 and applies a cutting-edge release of the KDE desktop to create an absolutely beautiful experience, that could easily appease those looking for the best of both worlds. That sentiment applies to many levels:
- Users who want both a solid underlying platform and a cutting-edge desktop
- Users who want a modern looking/feeling desktop that still adheres to the old-school metaphor
- Users who want a desktop that is simple yet allows for them to make it more complex when/if needed
That is what KDE Neon achieves, and it does so quite well.