Klassic brings the KDE 3 desktop experience from 2002 to KDE Plasma 6

Published Sep 27, 2026, 2:58 PM EDT Simon is a Computer Science BSc graduate who has been writing about technology since 2014, and using Windows machines since 3.1. After working for an indie game studio and acting as the family's go-to technician for all computer issues, he found his passion for writing and decided to use his skill set to write about all things tech. Since beginning his writing career, he has written for many different publications such as WorldStart, Listverse, and MakeTechEasier. However, after finding his home at MakeUseOf in February 2019, he would eventually move on to its sister site, XDA, to bring the latest and greatest in Windows, Linux, and DIY electronics. Sign in to your XDA account Summary Klassik v1.0 brings KDE 3's look to modern KDE Plasma 6, with Wayland support. It faithfully reimplements classic panel applets (K Menu, Quicklaunch, Task manager, locks, clocks). Clone the repo, build it, and set it as your distro's theme for an instant 2000s throwback. As a newcomer to the Linux scene, I didn't have the pleasure of using it back in the 2000s. I only just recently learned that the K in KDE used to stand for 'Kool', and these days, it literally just stands for 'K'. If you're like me and want a taste of what old KDE looked like, someone has reconstructed KDE 3's interface to work with KDE Plasma 6, and yes, it supports Wayland. Klassik brings the KDE 3 vibes into the modern era I'm tempted to daily drive it myself Credit: neeeeow As spotted by Linuxiac, Klassik has just gotten its v1.0 release. The goal is to bring back the look and feel of KDE 3 (which came out in 2002) into the modern era without breaking too many things. You need a few dependencies to use it, but once those have been sorted out, installing Klassik is as simple as cloning the GitHub repository, building it on your machine, and picking it as your active theme. The main highlight of the theme for me is how faithful the recreation is: Classic panel applets: Reimplementations of various KDE 3 panel applets, written in C++ and QML, all of which utilize QStyle and QPainter for drawing, ensuring they look as close to the original KDE 3 applets as possible. Currently included: K Menu (application menu) Quicklaunch Task manager Lock / log out buttons Digital / analog clock If you'd like to read more about this project, or you want the full instructions on how to set it up on your own distro, check out the Klassik GitHub repository. I'll definitely be spending the rest of my Sunday getting this theme set up.