Aside from destroying UI style, #clientSideDecorations break an established reading pattern.
In a traditional dialogue box, you work your way down through options and the final command trigger is at the bottom.
In #GIMP on #wayland, the "Export" button jumped up into the titlebar, above the relevant options.
I'm sure if you built a UI around it, it's a learnable convention, but it feels very foreign in a 2026 context, like some lost artifact from Visi On or RISC OS or the Alto reanimated.
@rl_dane An abacus has significant design advantages over #libadwaita so long as the theme is joined with the TK :')
By theme, I'm talking about basic things like widget sizes, basic background/foreground color selections, and disabling #ClientSideDecorations . I understand developers' frustration with full custom CSS, but missing these things is sad.
Oh, look GIMP's Open dialog box has crashed.
No worries, just close it.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU CAN'T CLOSE IT?!?
THERE ARE NO WINDOW DECORATIONS! IT'S ALL CLIENT-SIDE!!!
This moment of utterly unnecessary stupidity was brought to you by #ClientSideDecorations.
I hate when applications that don't have client-side decorations tack an ugly titlebar onto their windows in GNOME. If you can't find a place to put window controls in the header of your application, I'd rather just not have them than have them stick out like a sore thumb. I'll just close it from the overview, it's not a big deal.
The only reason I want GNOME to support the xdg-decoration Wayland spec is so I can go into the GTK CSS and universally shut off fugly titlebars. 
β
Ah, I see the #ClientSideDecorations brainrot has made it over to Apple.
#GiveMeRealTitleBarsAndScrollBarsYouStonkingNerfHerders #HashtagPoet #Snark
I haven't tried #TDE/Trinity, but I honestly never used KDE 3 or 4, so there's no nostalgia for me there.
I have tried both modern (as of a couple years ago) #MATE and the last Gnome 2 version of Ubuntu, and other than the clunky old application menu, I immensely preferred the look of classic Gnome 2. It just felt a lot more crisp and contrasty, even at exactly the same screen resolution.
I have a lot of love for #XFCE, but less and less for GTK, which it's built on.
I have a hard time hiding my disdain for things like #ClientSideDecorations, which I think is one of the dumbest ideas to come out of (I'll say it politely) UI Design, ever.
I liken #CSD to having a car's steering cluttered with buttons for the stereo, A/C, and transmission shifter, so you have to stop and think about where you're grabbing it before turning the wheel. Just a terrible idea.
My other major UI gripe: Lack of contrast between active and inactive titlebars. They took something that was split-second-obvious and made it a silly aesthetic choice. EVERY SINGLE DESKTOP AND OS does this WRONG by default.
Sorry for ranting. π
Some really smart industrial designer somewhere, somewhen:
I'm going to design a really novel ballpoint pen mechanism where you click on the button to engage the pen, but then click on the pen clip to release it. We'll make millions!!!
Me:
Great, now I have to think about how I hold your precious pen. lol
#Design #IndustrialDesign #NotaFountainPenPleaseDontHateMeItsJustForWorkStuff
P.S., just realized that this is totally an analogy for modern UI Design, particularly "Client Side Decorations" (titlebar colonization by cruft, lol) and the horrid shoestring scrollbars that are so popular now.
One design worked PERFECTLY for fifty years, and some young person had to come along and "innovate" it without considering how it would affect the users.
Every. Dang. Time, people!
> Ummmmm, where's my "show on all desktops button?"
GTK App: <Whistles>> Hello?
GTK App: No idea. I gave you a search bar, tab buttons, various action buttons, a menu, close, maximize, and heck, even a minimize button. The titlebar even has the right gradient and color per your theme!> But why can't I get my KDE/Qt standard pin/"show on all desktops" button which I need to manage having this window show on my second monitor on all desktops?
GTK App: Because eff you, that's why.
#ClientSideDecorations, everyone. I freaking hate them.
Edit: fix in-line quoting
The app draws its own window decorations so screw you if you're not using the same desktop environment the app was written for (it will look terrible and out of place), and the app draws buttons and fields inside the area you're supposed to drag the window with (the titlebar).
#CSD / #ClientSideDecorations Is fundamentally like having the grip section of the steering wheel of your car full of buttons to control the horn, radio and shifter. It is the stupidest idea in #UI design in 50 years, and is a huge step backwards in #usability and accessibility.
friends, I present: #GNOME client-side decorated titlebars in action
Hak Foo 
Ethan Black
R.L. Dane 
π΅ 
Rusty Corgi
AJ Jordan