Linux

You are used to KDE and Gnome is very different But also KDE is buggy, I dont know how Steamdeck people make it better. If you chose Xfce, you will get a KDE similar desktop but more robust. Xfce can look modern with few efforts. MX Linux distro is a good example of a nice Xfce config.

Why no love for XFCE ?

KDE for best fully integrated, out of box, modern DE.

XFCE + Compiz if you're running on lower end hardware (uses less ram and utilizes gpu better). Also if you want even more customization than KDE with the drawback of limited SVG support (and still on X11 if that matters for you)

GNOME if you hate yourself and want to use a knockoff of ChromeOS or Mac.

Cinnamon and MATE if you want to see when GNOME used to be good.

LXQt is the XFCE equivalent of KDE, but is now on wayland with GPU accel, so it can fit the same area as XFCE+Compiz.

Wayfire (compositor) basically Compiz for Wayland if you want all the fancy effects on anything that uses wayland.

I'm in love with KDE right now.

I use GNOME and I enjoy it a lot. If you decide to go with GNOME, imho try to install as few extensions as possible so that you can experience the desktop environment the way it's intended by the developers. Of course, if it's not for you, then with the help of extensions you can adapt it to your liking.

Pros:

• Beautiful to look at and gets out of the way. GNOME scored great productivity gains for me.
• Fast, responsive and very stable (I'm on Fedora 40).
• Great experience with flatpaks.
• The best touchpad gestures in the world. Any DE, any OS.

Cons:

• Even though it is very stable, sometimes it crashes. Last time the crash was caused by Thunderbird; then I switched Thunderbird to flatpak too, so that if it crashes again it will not bring down the whole DE (applause to flatpak for delivering the tech 👏). Disclaimer: prior to the crash, I haven't shut down / restart my laptop for 20 days... it might not be Thunderbird alone that caused the problem.

🚧⚠️ That said, there's currently a really annoying bug in GNOME that causes HUGE (or even - INSANE!) disk I/O! I don't know when it is going to be fixed, but for the first time in two years this made me consider trying other desktop environments.

I just like GNOME better. Especially on a laptop. KDE is technically better on a desktop but all the things that annoy me on KDE tip the scales enough for me to use GNOME instead.

Used to use GNOME. But now I worship KDE.

KDE if these are my choices & by a long shot.

I usually cobble together my own tiling setup. This has less bloat, but also a lot less integration.

I settled with Plasma. It has its fair share of issues, mostly minor things compared to coming from Windows and its environment. But you really can customize it the way you want and it's relatively comfortable, so I'm fine with it. I still miss the old KDE3, but I'm not that hardcore to use Trinity. Not even sure how's Trinity nowadays.

Gnome 3 is just not my world, at all... at least, for desktop. I kinda use it on my htpc if I need an environment. That, or Xfce. I can imagine on a palmtop pc or other portable device that runs Linux, either with or without a touchscreen Gnome could be a pretty decent choice. Also, I'm sure I could/would get used to it if there's nothing else, but there are other options so I'm not going to sit down and get to (re)know Gnome, tho it's not like I'm against it.

KDE Plasma. GNOME is nice but I like the customizability and the features of KDE Plasma.

I use GNOME. KDE is nice in that it allows you to customize everything, but if I want that degree of control I'd rather use a fully customized window manager setup (sway is generally my go-to).

GNOME is also designed to be used in a keyboard-centric workflow, which I prefer. It's a nice comfy default for when I want the option to use my computer "lazily", i.e. just kicking back mostly using the mouse to browse the web, but still has enough power-user functionality to make zipping around without touching the mouse feel good.

I also just like their defaults a lot. If you start to install a bunch of third party extensions etc it starts to get messy and degrade the point of the whole unified vision, and at that point you're better off with KDE IMO.

It's also worth noting that I don't really like the default Mac OS UX -- while I can see why people say "KDE is like Windows, GNOME is like Mac," it's really only a surface level comparison that mostly ends at "KDE uses a taskbar and GNOME has a dock".

Kde, nothing against gnome, I just need to adjust KDE less to get what I want.

Plasma.

As a Linux convert from Windows, IMO it's really close in look and feel to Windows 7 or 10 but with none of the bullshit. You barely have to change your workflow if you're already used to Windows.

Gnome is Snow Leopard OSX basically in attitude and experience, do NOT try to customize anything, go limp and do the experience. KDE is Windows 98, full of fun customizations, but unpolished in odd ways no matter what you do. Choose your fighter!

KDE because it has a lot oft integrations and I can mostly configure it how I want. I previously, ran i3 and then Sway, but I grew tired of having to integrate everything myself.

I use KDE atm I'm really new to Linux at the moment though and I will switch at some point to see the other side. But KDE seams really good after just coming from Windows.

KDE.

I use KDE. It's very powerful and flexible. While it can be windows like, you an also craft pretty much any GUI you like with it with relative ease. It can be Mac like or something unique, or even Gnome like if you really want that.

It's also intuitive and user friendly, with well made apps and a comprehensive settings menu.

I've found KDE to be reliable and stable, as well as attractive and customisable.

There are a lot of apps made for it - the only downside is software bloat if you install all of them. I'd start with the basics KDE desktop and add apps one by one rather than install the whole KDE app suite. Although the apps are usually excellent lots of the apps may not be useful to you personally . For example I don't like installing the PIM suite (email, contacts etc) as I don't use it - all that is online for me so I don't need the native apps.

I'm personally not a fan of Gnome. It's got a single rigid GUI philosophy which you can now expand with extensions but I find they can be hit and miss on whether they work or are stable, and time consuming to set up how you want.

So for gnome you either like it as is or you don't, and if you dont like it then honestly I'd say don't bother trying to make it be what you want - just use something more flexible.

But regardless of what desktop you use, Apps will work on either or any of the others available.

I use a window manager on my desktop, and gnome on my laptop. Gnome's gestures are amazing with a touchpad

Gnome user here.

I was on xfce for a long time due to having low power hardware. I got a decent computer around the time kde plasma came out. I tried it and have stayed on it.

I hate gnome with every fiber of my being.

Gnome ftw

KDE Plasma is really nice, I love all the settings. But every time I try it, I give up after a couple weeks because I get annoyed at the hangups/crashes. Maybe because I'm always on old hardware. But I've never had Gnome crash. In 2 weeks, I had to ctrl-alt-f2 to reset plasma like 5 times. I never had to do that with gnome.

Sometimes on Gnome I really wish I could change a setting that would be easy in Plasma. but it's just not worth the hiccups. And it's nice that Plasma gives access to a bunch of different task switchers. But I couldn't find any that work as well as the Gnome task switcher. Plasma feels like beta testing

❤️ to KDE, though. I love K3b, KDEconnect (plus the GSconnect gnome extension), kate, krita, etc.

Gnome

I used to use KDE but I tried gnome and the default settings is exactly what I want anyway so I just switched

Would put gnome in my phone if I could but android itself already acts similar enough, but switching between apps is such a damn pain why is this such a pain god just be fast for once android

KDE for 27 years.

Kde. It's nice but I get some hangups and crashes sometimes.

KDE, coming from Windows it was the easiest to get used to for me. It has a lot of options and required some tweaking to get it the way I like, but once I did it was smooth sailing.

I'm pretty happy using GNOME on my laptop. Never tried KDE in my ~6 years of using Linux, maybe if I install it onto another device I will.

XFCE fan here.

Using KDE configured like GNOME.

KNOME, if you will.

I like Plasma. It feels very modern and has an easy interface with lots of customization if wanted. It also supports Wayland and lots of HDR features. Overall it's a cutting edge DE

Five years of Mate (which is essentially Gnome 2 on life support) replaced by a couple years of KDE Plasma.

Mate treated me well enough, it was mostly stable, capable, and competent. But it was a bit crusty around the edges, and being so niche meant search-engine-visible help resources for anything than went wrong were virtually nonexistent. In hindsight, using it as a beginner's DE was probably a mistake. I suppose in being so austere and devoid of resources it taught me to develop more of a "get to the bottom of it yourself" attitude to debugging and have humbler expectations about form versus function, but that's a pretty rough sell to most people. Mate is definitely better as a drink than a desktop environment.

I don't need to talk about KDE Plasma at all because the rest of the thread already has. I have nothing new to add beyond the comment that I like their mascot character.

I have no informed opinion on Gnome 3. All I've gleaned about it is that it's supposedly "my way or the highway" by design, and the "my way" in question is controversially counter-grain to a lot of established expectations (e.g. it's literally why Mate exists). Which is neither here nor there to me, objectively. But I will say I have no interest learning a new way of doing things, even if it's theoretically superior, when a conventional system still exists, is viable, is highly polished, and is kept sharp-edged. Hence, KDE Plasma.

Of the two I prefer Plasma. I strongly dislike Gnome. My absolute favorite DE is Cinnamon.

I've used GNOME in the past but currently use KDE Plasma. Both are good, but as for recommendations most Linux people I know of say for new users that if you're coming from Windows start with Plasma and if you're coming from Mac OS start with GNOME since those are the closer desktops to what you used before and will make things a bit easier. Depending on the distro you choose you may also have access to other desktops like Cinnamon, which I haven't used but have heard is even easier than Plasma for new users coming from Windows. It's not ready for daily use yet, but the upcoming Cosmic desktop may also be quite good for that.

I started on gnome. Used gnome for most of my linux life. However, after some memory and performance issues, I decided to try KDE. That was about 3 years ago and everything that handles it well and I use a GUI with has been moved to KDE.

No, I don't

I use KDE for desktops/workstations and Gnome where I want more of a 10ft interface...like HTPC, or if I have a touchscreen device.