Desktop Classic System is an operating system based on Debian and a customized version of the MATE Desktop Environment that hearkens back to, but is not a direct copy of, the classic Mac OS. DCS seeks to provide and sometimes even improve upon the conceptual simplicity offered by the old Macintosh, in these ways:

Your desktop is your computer

Everything your computer contains is on your desktop. All files and folders, whether local on your local drive, an external drive, or on the network, are reached via the desktop. All applications are launched, installed, and removed via the Menu.

File management is spatial

Every folder located anywhere has a unique window that corresponds to it, and all changes made to that window (size, position, view mode, and so on) are retained; nothing changes until you say so. In the default Icon view mode, you can place files within a folder anywhere within that folder; no sortation is mandatory. In the List view mode, you can easily sort and traverse large and deeply nested folder hierarchies from within one window. Make icons large or small per folder, give folders their own background colors or patterns, and customize any icon using emblems or pictures.

Window management is spatial

DCS offers window shading, multiple desktops, window lowering (sending a window to the bottom of a stack with a middle-click), and edge resistance (allowing one to "anchor windows" to screen edges for easy targets) as mechanisms for window management, allowing you to manage hoards of overlapping windows easily without ever having to move a window out of the way, or hunt through a task bar or alt+tab menu.

Put anything anywhere

Use the Menu’s search feature to quickly find an application, or pin the application to the Menu’s Favourites section, or drag and drop an application from the Menu to the Panel, or to the Desktop, or to an open folder, or put some in one and some in another. Drag and drop files, folders, or just about anything to the Panel for quick access to it no matter how many windows are open. Easily customize DCS in whatever way that suits your workflow.

Simple application management

Select AppManager from the Menu and enter a search term (such as "web browser" or "word processor") to find what you need, then simply click "Install Application" to place it in the Menu. If you want to uninstall it, drag and drop the application from the Menu onto AppManager. Download a Debian package for a third party application such as Steam or Discord and just double-click it to install it into your Menu; removing such an application is also as simple as dragging and dropping.

Get Desktop Classic System

Download the zip file below and extract its contents to a freshly formatted USB drive (FAT32 only). Shut down the computer you wish to install it on, insert the USB drive, then turn on the computer. If DCS does not start, you may need to access the boot menu on your computer; it’s usually accessed by repeatedly pressing one of F1-F4, or F9-F12 from the moment you turn the computer on. When you are able to successfully boot from the USB drive, it is recommended that you verify you’re connected to the internet so that your clock is automatically set correctly when you run the installer. From there, double-click the icon reading "Install Desktop Classic System" and follow the prompts.

desktop_classic_system_13.2.zip (2.5 GB)

You may also wish to take a look at the Quick-Start Guide included with DCS beforehand, to get a better idea of what using it is like.

Quick-Start Guide.pdf

Here is a link to both the "toolchain" used to build DCS 13.2, as well as the patches applied to Debian 13.2’s basic Caja package. Warning: These are horribly messy and basically only meant to be used by me, but I shall provide them nonetheless.

13.2_build.zip

You can seek support or otherwise discuss DCS here, no registration (currently) required:

Discuss DCS Here