It worked, at least 25+ years ago when I last used it; early versions weren't a model of stability, but that wasn't nearly as important as an X server or a Wayland compositor not crashing, since you can simply restart an X window manager when it crashes (from a terminal window, virtual terminal, automatically from a script, etc.).
replyLots of teenagers were using it back then judging by the old themes, 95% of which suck. As an adult I made a simple, attractive theme, enabled only the most basic and useful eye candy, and just use it. None of the other alternatives interest me, and I've tried them all.
reply> I added an anime character desktop background, as was required at the time
replyi always thought that "stone hand on desert island" was the #1 requirement for Linux desktop backgrounds of the time? ofc i can't find a pic of it now
edit: found it https://i.ibb.co/bgpRF6Y7/image.png
Ohh, I've never seen that wallpaper before... Looks so year 2000-ish... :)
replyAnd then you start some actual (non-E) applications...
Which look completely different (i.e. not like something that MS Frontpage has desperately assembled out of Java Applets and weird color choices)...
And then, even if you liked the original look, you'll not be satisfied at all anymore, will you?
Yeah, okay, on the other hand, you could probably find Qt and GTK themes that somehow looked similar enough...