Hmmm, I haven't heard a clear vision by anyone on what a futuristic desktop should look like.
Even E24 looks outdated as it is now and I doubt that will change in the very near future.
I do think it's not a bad thing to be talked about as a distro with a retro desktop that's very usable in the current day and age.....a lot better than slowly fading away in the mists of time. 
Frankly, I think there's going to be a throwback to "ye old days" and we'll turn out to have been very avant garde with our Retro offering.....actually, I'm sure. 
The gist of Jack Wallens article I recently quoted, is exactly that yearning for those days and IMO a sign of the changing tastes.
OTOH, I don't think we have much choice ..... it's release a Retro snapshot soon or die.
There's nothing left to lose .... not even a good reputation.
LOL Maybe we can call it futuristic-Retro. 
Albeit I associate "futuristic" to the early fascists in Italy with Gabriel D'annunzio as the spokesperson, so I'd dis-advise to using that term.
