NsCDE is a retro but powerful UNIX desktop environment which resembles CDE look (and partially feel) but with a more powerful and flexible framework beneath-the-surface, more suited for 21st century unix-like and Linux systems and user requirements than original CDE.

NsCDE can be considered as a heavyweight FVWM theme on steroids, but combined with a couple other free software components and custom FVWM applications and a lot of configuration, NsCDE can be considered a lightweight hybrid desktop environment.

In other words, NsCDE is a heavy FVWM (ab)user. It consists of a set of FVWM applications and configurations, enriched with Python and Shell background drivers, couple of the additional free software tools and applications. FVWM3 is also supported.

Visually, NsCDE mimics CDE, the well known Common Desktop Environment of many commercial UNIX systems of the nineties. It supports CDE backdrops and palettes with FVWM colorsets and has a theme generator for Xt, Xaw, Motif, GTK2, GTK3, Qt4 and Qt5. Integrating all these bits and pieces, the user gets a retro visual experience across almost all X11 applications. Enriched with a bunch of powerful FVWM concepts and functions, modern applications and font rendering, NsCDE acts as a link between classic CDE look and a fast and extensible environment, well suited for modern day computing.