twn_onizuka Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 Howdy my fellow colleges; I am just wondering what do you guys prefer KDE or GNOME? Possibly the main pros and cons of each? I am aware it is self choice, but i am just curious. I was wondering how do you update KDE and GNOME? I currently have Mandriva 2006 powerpack... Thanks [moved from Installing Mandriva by spinynorman] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoulSe Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 I have always preferred Gnome, and GTK-based DEs and WMs in general. I liked the functionality that could be gained by Gnome's high level of customisation. KDE has pretty much caught up in that department now though. IMHO KDE has come a long way - it used to be bloated and ugly, but I tried it out again a month ago and found it to be quite different from my previous try around two years ago. I still stick to Gnome though - just feels more agile and I'm used to it. I think KDE is a far better choice for new users though, it is far more friendly... and I guess a little more intuitive... than Gnome. As for updating them - your Desktop Environment is just a collection of packages on your computer that get updated along with everything else via your package manager... if that's what you meant :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 No need to choose unless diskspace is critical just install both and see which feels right for you. Most of us have reasons we got comfortable that don't apply anymore, for me it was back when kmail was the nicest mail client (IMHO) before evolution etc. and I just switched because it was more efficient to run mainly KDE apps because once you load the backend it is incrementally more efficient runing more efficient adding extra KDE apps but that was my reason and it no longer applies and now Im just comfortable with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gannin Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 I prefer Gnome. It seems more solid to me. I found a recent discussion at another forum discussing this very same issue. Perhaps it'll be of use to you. http://www.justlinux.com/forum/showthread....threadid=145424 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianw1974 Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 I use KDE, far prefer it to Gnome, but have used Gnome as well and have it installed in case I fancy using it for a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gannin Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 Also keep in mind that while there will be some Gnome supporters here, when you're asking on a specific distro's board what everyone's favorite desktop is, you'll generally get more support for the default desktop of that distro. Here, most people probably prefer KDE. At Ubuntu's board, most people probably prefer Gnome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelcole Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 Back with mandrake 9.1 and other distros then I used Gnome, It seemed better and had more options, at the time but with a lower footprint.. That did not last long. I found Gnome on my system eating up everything. So i tried KDE for a while and found things to be much faster (Perception not sure it is true.).. I liked the ability to find how to change things easier and the Layout is so much more appealing to me. I dont want too much flash bang but i do like to have some even in the buttons... I use GTK styles and Font changer in KDE so my other programs using the GTK at least look more like a K app. The other thing i hate (Really hate) is the file open browser in Gnome, But that is me again.. I have not used the latest gnome.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 I once preferred KDE but I found out that I actually only use GTK apps, thus I tried Gnome and I soon switched to with it. It felt snappy, more intuitive for me, was prettier for me (I am what some call a "minimalist"), very stable. But that is only me, of course. IMHO KDE got too bloated and complicated (cluttered menus) with its latest releases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helmut Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 (edited) KDE or Gnome? Thats no issue for me, although I actually prefer the look and feel of Gnome. I generally agree with arctic. I have installed both KDE and Gnome and apps from both as well. If we are honest, we must recognize that both are excellent, just as the very many other windowmakers as well... So whats the question? Damn, this is not like Windoze, we can choose! Helmut Edited April 24, 2006 by Helmut Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 I prefer kde. I have used several, and many do not list other great wm. I keep waiting for Enlightenment (E17), but it may be a dream! :lol: I do not care for the trend of distros favoring one or the other. Most Ubuntu users are going to say gnome because it is the default with their distro. (Or else they use kubuntu) Libranet used gnome but their version had a distinctive kdeish feel to it! At any rate, it really means nothing, but I use kde. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarecrow Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 (edited) I have installed in my Arch Linux box KDE, Gnome, XFCE4, IceWM, Fluxbox, and E17. 95% of the times I use KDE, and 4% XFCE, mainly because KDE has a huge advantage over other desktops and WM's: It's fantastic VFS, which is ages ahead of Gnome's. Surely enough it's big and bloated, but on any quasi-modern computer with 256+ MB or RAM this shouldn't be a real issue. But as already said: If HD space is not an issue, why not try all the desktop flavours and find out what fits your needs best? Edited April 24, 2006 by scarecrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polemicz Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 I'm pretty much a KDE user and have been from my first Linux days (Mandrake 8.0). From time to time I've tried Gnome, but have never had a reason to change from KDE. I simply know how to go about using KDE and setting things up, with Gnome it's always having to figure things out, but that's a habit issue. The biggest reason I have for staying with KDE is Konqueror (I could never get to like Nautilus). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sn8kman Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 I've tried both. IMHO I've felt that Gnome was faster out-of-the-box with displaying menus/submenus/other items and generally appeared faster. KDE seems more customizeable out-of-the-box, but slower. With that said, I went into tweaking my video settings with KDE and improved speed greatly. Also, I found resources to making Gnome 'prettier'. The only difference between the two for a novice user is how pretty do you want your desktop and how much tweaking of the video driver are you comfortable doing? Either will achieve the same comfort of interface with some adjusting on the end-user's part. Maybe that's all part of getting to know Linux commands and such though? I know it helped me. PS-I'm running a NVIDIA card, so ATI may be faster out-of-the-box Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reiver_Fluffi Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 I started off with KDE, lasted about 4 months or so, tried GNOME, used it ever since. Just feel that aesthetically GNOME has the bit more polish, and I still get enough configuration to satisfy my needs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kastorff Posted April 24, 2006 Report Share Posted April 24, 2006 Ah, the most overdiscussed topic in Linux-land. ;) Since it's all about taste and preference in the end, there isn't a definitive answer, other than try both and decide. If you are like a lot of folks, you will end up spending time in more than one DE/WM anyway, if for no other reason, curiousity and/or boredom. I have fully configured XFCE, Fluxbox, IceWM, Gnome, KDE, WindowMaker, and Enlightenment environments on my primary machine. Each of them does something well, and each has some weaknesses. I switch between them to learn and for a change of pace. Most folks will say start with KDE, and then explore, which isn't a bad recommendation, since KDE has most every bell and whistle you can imagine. Then you can decide which bells and whistles get in your way or use too much system resources, and let that guide you in exploration of other DE/WMs. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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