Re: [sheflug] KDE vs Gnome... (batten down the hatches, etc etc)

["Wonkey Donkey" <wonkey_donkey [at] xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Chris J" <cej [at] nightwolf.org.uk>
To: <sheflug [at] sheflug.co.uk>
Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2006 11:14 AM
Subject: [sheflug] KDE vs Gnome... (batten down the hatches, etc etc)


>
> Hi all,
>
> Sorry about the question, as I know it's often very subjective. However I
> can't find any real agnostic comparisons of these two desktops out there.
>
> <snip>
>
> Cheers,
>
> Chris...
>

I'll post my experience of the two, from a personal perspective of course.

First of all, speed. I've always found KDE to be the faster of the two, but 
only very marginally. I wouldn't make a recommendation based on that alone 
though, as there is too little difference.

Performance. Aside from the speed issue, I have found Gnome to be actually 
better in terms of performance. Both systems have felt like resource hogs, 
but Gnome feels just that little bit 'smoother' and more rounded.

Usability. I have found both of them to be very useable overall, each for 
their own reasons. The menu updating tool in KDE for example, is very easy 
to use and on a similar appearance to that which you see in windows. So the 
comfort factor there helped me. Gnome menu updating however, using the 
vfolder system, is something I've always found difficult to get to grips 
with, despite the numerous configuration tools included.

Appearance. Both of them have a number of config options and theme sets to 
change the look & feel elements. Its fairly easy to make them look & feel 
identical to the windows environment, which again, may be a comforting 
factor for a new user. Gnome does it for me here, when comparing the two. 
Again, it just feels more rounded.

Overall ease of use. I couldn't make a call here either way to be honest. 
They are both easy to use, in terms of being a desktop environment.

If I had to make a recommendation of one or the other, I personally would go 
for Gnome.

KDE was easier to get to grips with when I was a newcomer to both systems, 
but for me, it just doesn't feel quite as polished as gnome overall.

HTH.

Steve.

BTW. Im sure its worth mentioning the underlying X server too. Time spent 
here tweaking the likes of system fonts, video and display settings etc etc 
is definitely time well spent. The slightest issue here can affect the whole 
desktop experience later on, be it Gnome or KDE. I usually spend a fair 
amount of time going through the entire Xorg.log and also dmesg log to 
remove the erroroneous entries one by one until they are all removed, before 
I even think about the desktop environment. 



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