I’m relatively new to the linux space, I was introduced by the steam deck which uses kde, and it’s pretty similar to windows in terms of how it works so that’s the DE i’d be leaning towards when I eventually switch. I’ve never used gnome so i’m not sure if it’d be worth using I guess?
So I’m just looking for some input from the community, do you use Gnome or Plasma, why do you use it, and what’s kind of like a pros and cons kinda thing between the two?
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 ?
Xfce and Debian is the best combination. Stable, lightweight. Overall pretty good.
Then Try MX-Linux
Nah I’m more into the main distros, they tend to have better support. Debian, Fedora are my main OSs, with Debian being what I use with old hardware that I still want to use on a daily basis, and Fedora for anything that’s new and might require a more up to date kernel.
I didn’t know it existed till making this post, as someone that’s new those are just the only two I hear about.
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 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.
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’m in love with KDE right now.
Used to use GNOME. But now I worship KDE.
Same here.
Although when I say I “used to”,it was in the gnome 1.1 days, so it’s been a while.
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.
after changing animation speed in KDE i have never managed to get back to gnome, holy cow does my computer feels responsive
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”.
Gnome is so much more different, the closest comparison would be android but android is frankly a downgrade of gnome for me with how slow and clunky it is even with touch controls funnily enough
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.
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.
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!
Uhm, what? Gnome is all about customization lol Mine looks more like windows than it does mac
You can customize Gnome quite a lot if you want it just requires a bit of knowledge.
but only until the next update, which will probably break half your extensions, because they are entirely unsupported and uncared for bythe gnometeam
You have spoken the actual truth
I had about 16 extensions before the last update. After I updated 2 of them became unsupported which 1 of them is already supported again if I am not mistaken. It depends on what extensions you use of course.
I’m still waiting for Gnome’s titlebar hiding on fullscreen extension to work again on Fedora 41 Gnome. As an enlightened individual where Gnome is good, tell me how to hide it again since I am dumb and you are smart.
You could use dash to panel extension, in the settings move the bar to the top, reorganize it as you wish (you should be able to make it look practically indentical to the original panel), make it thinner and turn on autohide. Even though I have some bad experience with the dash to panel authide feature and know this is a half baked solution. See if it works for you.
KDE is Windows 98, full of fun customizations, but unpolished in odd ways no matter what you do.
Absolutely perfect. And part of why I’ve grown to love it.
I agree, but I got hooked on Apple gestures from work. I’m like a cop who had to go undercover and got hooked on speed to operate
