ok Gnome lovers, This KDE users is ready to make the switch. Without trashing KDE, sell me on Gnome. I always read how you guys think it's better, so whats better? If you want to know what distro, it will be either Fedora 7 or Mandriva Spring. I haven't made up my febile mind yet. I really like spring, but I am now feeling my way around Fedora.

Does Nautilus still open in multiple windows? (by Default-I haven't used gnome in a long time)
I'm on dial up, can I use kppp? or what is the gnome version?
Not that I have used it much, but what about karamba?
Gnomebreaker v K3B, how do they stack up?
I'm guessing that mplayer, xmms, audacity, etc all run fine? what do I use to rip cds?
Themes? Icons? tweaking tips?

KDE is better than Gnome. Gnome is better than KDE. It depends on your preferences. You can try gnome first on your current system. If you like it, then switch to a gnome-centric distro (Fedora, Ubuntu, Frugalware, ...). If you prefer KDE, stick to a KDE centric distro (Mandriva, Sidux, Slackware, ...)

Remember that you can use the KDE apps (even Karamba) in Gnome and vice versa (e.g. gdesklets). I find the Gnome apps to be very good. Gnomebaker is slowly getting as good as K3B, but K3B is still the king when it comes to graphical-burning tools (although I don't need it).

Nautilus can be used in browser or spatial window mode. Your choice.

Ripping CDs: Soundjuicer or grip. Multimedia apps? No problem. They run fine.

Thanks for the reply. And since I'm using Fedora, I thought I should also make a switch to Gnome. I debated on what to post, but since I can't remember the last time I used it, I thought I would ask why others seemed to like it, without getting into the usual flame war.

I enjoy the simpler, and to me, more intuitive interface. I find KDE's system of menu's and it's control center to be overly complex and badly designed. I also find themes that are available for GNOME to be far more artistic and pleasing to the eye than 99.9% of KDE themes (KDE themes always seem so....bulky, save for a small portion of them).

Those are my opinions and by no means constitute facts, so arguing with them is pointless because I have used both DE's extensively and know what I like

To answer your questions more specifically:
Yes, but as arctic said, you can modify this behavior.
You can use KPP, but as I don't use dial-up I honestly don't know what the GNOME app for dial-up is.
Using Karamba in GNOME might be problematic, but there are other options, like gdesklets.
I've never used gnomebreaker....so I can't compare...
gnome-look.org

also, for applications, check out http://www.gnomefiles.org/

Which interface to use is a matter of personal preference.... until things go so wrong that you need to fix or restore configuration files. I found that fixing KDE configuration files is a lot easier than fixing GNOME. Gnome apps store their config in an endless number of xml files, and there is no easy way to locate an important property, unless you are a developer:-). KDE is a lot simpler, IMHO. Each application has one or two config files, which are easy to find and fix 'cause they are named <application>rc, <application>.destop, etc.

If you need Gnome just to run a spcific application, the application will run under KDE just fine as long as all libraries are installed. You can just install Gnome for the sake of having all necessary libraries, then applications such as evolution or nautilus will run just fine within KDE.

I think it's gnomebaker than gnomebreaker

I used KDE for years, and only switched to Gnome earlier this year. I figured I would try it and see how I get on. You need to give yourself time to use it. First time I tried, I gave up after a day and went back to KDE. You have to use it for much longer. And try not using KDE apps, find the gnome equivalents. You'll find it'll be more responsive than trying to run KDE apps in Gnome. Mainly, because you'll need to wait while the KDE libraries load, and then the KDE app will follow. Saying that, after the first app has ran, the libs are loaded, so any other KDE app will be loaded quickly anyhow.

But using KDE apps, means you take up much more space on your hard drive installing double the stuff. If you have a large hard disk, then don't worry. I tend to prefer to have my space for my data, because it far outweighs my installed apps. And space is a premium, even on my 80GB hdd in my laptop.

Nuh, I have only 5.8G for / and other system partitions, not including /home. Peanuts...:-)

That's why GNOME has a front-end to these files: gconf-editor. Although I rarely have to use this myself...since my GNOME apps hardly ever break...

Although, lets be honest, it's not quite embracing the GUI philosophy of user friendliness.

You find me any DE that stores configuration information in a user friendly manner. No, config files do not count - they are not user friendly. There is a point at which a GUI becomes non-user-friendly, most commonly when storing configuration values. If they are accessible via the programs menu's, that's the best you can do - to make a program that has access to every programs settings and make it user friendly is damn near impossible due to the complexity of such a feat.

Just look at the registry editor.

Well, one thing is clear: I need a new pc at home My daughter has taken over the one I have. I didn't have much time to look around on gnome, but so far I like it. I brought the fedora 7 livecd to work and I am using it here at lunch. I think the last time I tried gnome was on Mandrake 9.2, so that was a while ago.

I do believe it is called gnomebaker, not breaker. That will probably be me. Like Ian, it will be just making the adjustment to gnome apps from KDE ones.

One other thing, gnomebaker didn't work for me in Fedora 7. I tried to write a DVD and it told me to put a disk in the drive, that was.....already there.

I could however burn it with another app from right clicking within Nautilus and selecting the CD/DVD creator option.

to answer one of the questions in the initial post, yes, Nautilus uses spatial mode (one window per directory) by default, but this is very easy to change - Edit, Preferences, Behavior, Always open in browser windows.

I would not call Mandriva KDE centric, I think Mandriva does a good job in trying to integrate most Desktop Environments/Window Managers.

5.8 GB for the System should be enough place for both KDE and Gnome, I have 4,8 GB for the System and installed both and have still 1,3 GB free space on my partition.

You just can use the app you like, regardless wether it is written for Gnome or KDE, I for example use mostly Gnome, but for browsing my SMB-Network I use SMB4K, for burning I prefer K3B, there are some themes out there that try to give both Environments a somewhat unified look, so switching between apps is not that big problem.

"Computers help us solving problems we would not have without them"

I think you just described my entire working life

Try 'Run command . . .'
nautilus --browser

Very much agree...

Had trouble with burning things in gnome, at least with the native applications which came with Mandriva 2007.1 Live cd. THere wasn't much there. Iso support it fine, but not much else, and it would often crash on me. Didn't know about gnomebaker, I'll look into it. I've been using Gnome cd Master, which burns great, and has lots of configurable options. It's a gui to cdrdao, which I highly recommend. That said, I'm really curious about kde, and am installing it to use just now. Almost done I think...

The best burning app for Gnome is (by far) Brasero - maybe its not close yet to K3B or (the commercial) Nerolinux 3, but its a pretty decent application.

Agree.

I like both Gnome and KDE, and i feel comfortable in both environments. I'm steel trying to decide which is better...

From personal experience, Gnome works better and has fewer bugs than KDE on Mandriva 2007.1. KDE on Kubuntu 7.04 and PClos2007 is supreme.
I can't remember any particular bug that i have found in Ubuntu or Fedora (4 to 7) in Gnome (Fedora's KDE was excellent too).

Most Gnome themes are nicer than KDE themes (in my opinion), and are easy to install.

Gnomebaker didn't work well for me on Mandriva Spring.

I use Kubuntu now for a month or so as my primary OS.

So as ianw1974 said, give Gnome a try for some weeks and than decide.

First: Mandriva is not a KDE distribution, it offers KDE and GNOME and lots of other desktops.

When I last touched upon RH, I noticed they did things to KDE that made it less usable than it is in normal unmessed state.

If this is still the case on Fedora, I'd say, stick with GNOME there.

With Mandriva you can go either way.

I use KDE and like certain applications better than their GNOME counterparts.
Also, the way KDE applications work, it's better to run KDE with your preferred KDE and GNOME applications than to run GNOME with GNOME and KDE apps, because any KDE app will have practically all of KDE loaded (to have the framework functional, kioslaves and all kinds of other things that I admittedly know nothing about), whereas the way I understood this is not the case with GNOME applications.

Now on to the GNOME applications that I use and like:
grip - cd ripper - have set it up once, ages ago, and since I set it up the way I want, there's no reason to change. Works for me, works fine.
gqview - photo viewer - I know kuickshow, just don't like how the selected photo pops up in a different frame, gqview does what I want it to do and works the way I expect.
evolution - mail program - I started using this since I started with GNOME, because at that time there was a strong anti-kde-the-licence-is-bad sentiment going on, and still use it, works fine

Yeah, short list - I have lots more KDE apps that I really dig: K3B, digiKam, Konqueror (web and file and then some), ...

Kuickshow sucks. Gwenview is what you're looking for.

Thanks for that tip, never knew that existed until now, the interface looks good. I just need something to burn now.



I agree, but like you say that is a matter of taste.



I haven't had any problems so far, although I don't use KDE much.

Ive always been a KDE user. Im currently runnin PClinuxOS so they have no official GNOME version in the repos yet.

One question I have about nautilus - does it have split screen view? I always run konqueror in spilt left/right for easy Xfers and links. thanks

No, Nautilus doesn't have such a view (maybe achievable via some addon?).
You can use something like Gnome-Commander instead (Gnome's equivalent of Krusader, although less good).