KDE vs GNOME

Linux is great because of all the choices. Linux is confusing because of all the choices. When you booted your computer you saw a desktop. It's your gateway to everything you do on your machine. The unfortunate majority will see the Windows desktop. Now there's nothing wrong with the Windows desktop, in fact it's quite pretty and functional. It's what's beyond the gateway where the trouble starts. A minority will see the Mac desktop. Again, pretty and functional, but the controls, buttons and menus are located a bit differently so the Windows person using the Mac may hesitate a bit as he/she learns to get around.

The really fortunate and enlightened Linux user has choices. Most Linux people will use either KDE or GNOME. Is one better than the other? No! Statistics show that KDE users outnumber GNOME users. Perhaps this is because KDE has a resemblance to Windows. Personally I prefer GNOME. But why not have the best of both worlds? A simple command installs the KDE desktop to your Ubuntu system and you simply choose your desktop at boot time. DON'T DO THIS!!!! Your previously uncluttered GNOME desktop will now have a slew of KDE apps, many of which duplicate GNOME apps. You will have both the Synaptic and the Adept package managers on your system. Not a good idea.. You will have both the Nautilus and Dolphin file managers on your system. Confused???? You should be.

Fact... Most applications labeled for KDE will run on Gnome just as well and vice-versa. Example...F-Spot (Digital Camera Utility) comes with GNOME and DigiKam comes with KDE. So, you try both and uninstall one or the other.

After trying the KDE desktop and deciding that GNOME would remain my choice, I was a little too aggressive in removing it. I managed to uninstall Skype and WINE which are installed by default in KDE but not in GNOME. The problem was not hard to fix but indicates another reason you should not take this approach.

Best approach. Try the LiveCD's. Test drive Ubuntu and Kubuntu for sure. Try some non-Ubuntu distros. Your final decision may rest upon what works on your equipment. It did for me. The site http://www.polishlinux.org has a really neat tool to compare
the most popular distros.

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