Some things have changed for the worst: back in the day you could tweak the user interface to your heart's content. That was before Steve Jobs wanted to have knobs and other bullshit. Before "touch interfaces" ushered an era of idiotic minimalism where you can't tell what an icon does, or how it's different from the other. Back in a day where interfaces were supposed to be consistent between applications, and *customizable*. When the *user* was supposed to be in charge. 2/3
But that doesn't mean you can't do it anymore. You'll have to steer away from the mainstream, macOS in particular but Windows too, and even mainstream Linux desktop environments which have sadly decided to copy the corporate bullshit. But it can be done! Pick a smaller BSD, do a weird Gentoo install, deliberately use an older machine, do as many mistakes as needed. Do not feel compelled to go with the mainstream. Have fun and don't let the joy of playing with computers be taken from you. 3/3