A “flat” design removes the distinction between navigation controls and content.
Historically, navigation controls such as buttons were shaded, or given 3D relief,
to distinguish them from the application or web page’s content.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/09/05/flat_uis_designs_are_22_per_cent_slower_official/
No, they’re both ugly as hell.
Better suggestion; use keyboard shortcuts - https://docs.kde.org/trunk5/en/applications/fundamentals/kbd.html
Please no. Ugly or not doesn’t matter, both are completely outdated. And I definitely don’t want my desktop to look like Win98.
I’m not sure if that should be taken as a tongue in cheek comment ( http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/tongue-in-cheek ) or not. :\
“Plastik”, although I don’t use it myself, is still available…
http://paste.opensuse.org/view/raw/c8f6bb5c
… so if that’s your preference, just select it. 
It’s one of the thirst things I do after installing a new version of Opensuse.
My point was that we should make it the default in order to improve the usability of KDE.
A “flat” theme should be an option afterwards for the people who are crazy enough to like it…>:)
I have to agree with the OP about flat themes/decorations - they are harder to use than the “previous” generation.
One thing* I’ll sorely miss is KDE4 Crystal window decoration. It is highly (and I mean totally) configurable, with many button types and live coloring, captions, shades, background, logos, overlays for active and inactive windows, custom button positions, re-sizable window borders that actually work, title bar height, no issues with compositing on/off, etc. Worked brilliantly here for years.
I’ve tried a couple other decorations in oS 42.3 that look a little bit like Crystal (more of a pale simulacrum) but they are riddled with bugs. In fact, in my limited experience only Breeze is stable in KDE5, all others - including Plastik - have issues.
(* the other, of course, is different widgets per desktop).
Sigh…
Re. the flat B&W default theme in oS 42.3 KDE, I find that switching icon theme to Oxygen improves things a bit. Part is familiarity - it looks a bit like the KDE Diamonds iconset for KDE4 - but mostly due to having colored icons. I don’t have a monochrome monitor since the early 90’s, and IMHO there’s not much sense in dismissing the recognizable dimension that color provides.
Now I know this is all a question of taste, there are no absolutes, only opinions, so fingers crossed not to start a flame war here. 
But going back to W95/98 decorations is a bit too much. It is, after all, ugly and outdated as hell (IMO, of course).
So, take it over, update it, develop and maintain it. :\
… and do I ever agree with this. W98??? Why not WFWG 3.11?
Easier said than done, Fraser. :sarcastic:
Pretty much from when TW first introduced Plasma 5 I’ve been using without any real problem, Oxygen window decoration and QtCurve widgets.
Not to everyone’s taste no doubt, (my partner says the green makes her feel sick), but this is a sample of how it looks.
http://paste.opensuse.org/view/raw/67a5e4a4
It’s all very personal of course… I don’t particularly like Breeze, especially the window decoration and widget style. I’m slowly becoming accustomed to, which is not the same as liking, the icons.
After maybe a decade of “flat” icons,
The discussion continues.
For those who aren’t Developers,
It might be useful to know the <reasoning> for flat layouts as opposed to the older “shaded” objects rather than opine based only on “whatever feels right” which would be entirely personal and subjective (No two people are guaranteed to “feel” the same about the same thing).
Flat Desktop icons aren’t the only objects that are “flat,”
A Desktop “flat” layout will also typically include
’
The full Flat Layout came about because of the idea of a Universal Display that would be used on physical devices with tiny as well as large displays, and the smaller the screen is, it’s possible that the resolution isn’t fine enough to display shading properly. Without a very high resolution, on tiny displays shaded objects become muddied blobs. Eliminating shading results in lines with sharp boundaries, rendered better even on low resolution displays.
And, for those Desktops that want to be truly universal and support screens of all sizes and shapes, you’ll also see…
For those running on x86/x64 machines, almost any layout can be installed.
If running on an ARM with a single or limited number of cores, it’s almost a “must” to run a mobile layout as described.
Despite the “advantages” of a Flat Layout to accommodate the widest variety of hardware used today, it’s still a significant visual change that a lot of people don’t like. One of the Desktops available on openSUSE curiously pushes new boundaries of GUI design by allowing configuration options for both strong texturing and a mobile layout, I’d recommend experimenters try Enlightenment.
Personally,
I don’t know if I would want the flat layouts set as default, but I wouldn’t mind if options to set those might be made more prominent during a new install, eg with its own pattern which can be selected during Install.
IMO,
TSU
… well, yeah, my point exactly.
… but, if not you, who do you think should take that work on to make something for you?
If you did take it on, though, think of all the things you would learn …:\
It’s not entirely personal and subjective: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/flat-ui-less-attention-cause-uncertainty/Flat UI Elements Attract Less Attention and Cause Uncertainty
Yeah… and will no doubt rumble on for another decade or more.
A Desktop “flat” layout will also typically include … snip … and menus that fold out or fly out.
Now we are into the realms of where, personally, it’s a resounding “No thanks!”
I’d recommend experimenters try Enlightenment.
That’s quite an “interesting” desktop environment, I played around a while back with E17, but ultimately decided to remain with KDE.