I think (personally) ahead of the customisation options, KDE gets my vote because the options are many and yet my mum can use it witout getting lost.
AND that is good design!

"most of the best applications" ...well, you can run QT apps in non-KDE desktop too, and vice versa. So I don't think applications themselves are what make a desktop environment good or bad; if they're thought about at all, then only those applications that are "integrated" fully into the desktop. And I don't find many of those..panels maybe. KDE4 remains to be seen until it's officially released (no betas anymore please). At the moment I've only seen a buggy-as-what Windows-and-OSX-tracking heavy cream-and-cherry mixture, but of course I'm hoping it gets rid of the annoying crashing bugs, bad imitations of the other desktops and most of all would become lighter for the hardware.

Anyway, this time I voted for Gnome. My own experience, my own needs and so on.. XFCE is a nice one too, hopefully they keep on making it good and don't try to imitate the rest of the herd.

And then: anything that resembles Vista is to walk the plank.

I like Gnome for its two bars, get KDE on my computer as a backup and for KolourPaint (And other KDE programs). Also like XFCE however I think it needs to work on being more flexible.

KDE is a desktop environment that fits like a glove and melts in your mouth :P. I mean it: as you find more and more options and find more and more tricks and tips and abilities, it melts in your mouth.

How about adding AfterStep, WindowMaker, FVWM-Crystal all of which are excellent GUIs? Although I already voted for Xfce.

This is the pool for "Desktop Environment of the Year", NOT for Window Manager of the year...

I don't think that it is ROX based (although I don't really know), but Xfce now has its own Xfdesktop application and is a DE in its own right. A nice one, too.

While AfterStep, WindowMaker and FVWM-Crystal are called window managers they are actually full blown desktop environments. Each with its own window manager, desktop, panels, pager, menu system, run dialog, compositing etc.

A window manager is exactly that, a window manager and nothing else. Sawfish for example qualifies. If you run Sawfish and want a desktop or panels you have run something like xfdesktop (Xfce's desktop) or fbpanel (FluxBox's panel), AfterStep et al, have a window manager as part of what they are--desktop environments.

Regarding WindowMaker: it began as a GNUStep development environment but has since evolved into its own desktop environment.

For AfterStep screenshots look here
For WindowMaker here
For FVWM-Crystal here

gnome ,maybe after kde 4 released ,i will choose kde,waiting kubuntu 8.04

traditionally a kde man, but seem to be using gnome alot more these dayssince distros seem to be shipping better configuration stuff with it.

where's the option for e17, i've only used the heavily modded version in gOS, but from what i hear... its the dogs bollocks.


still, i love konqueror to bits. and kde looks best equiped to be moving towards a star-trek style computer... me talking to it and it talking to me.


"computer.... stfu"

The lines I quoted are from the developers themselves. The very creators of AfterStep and the others you mentioned call it a Window Manager.

I agree that it is a fine line between DE and WM, but you are against the word of the developers saying that it is a "full blown desktop environment". Just because a Window Manager offers a run dialog and a few other utilities does not qualify as a DE.

Please take a look at this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Window_Manager

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_environment

Regards!

Yeah, I agree with Mega Man X. I've installed Ubuntu Gutsy which had chosen gnome as it's default desktop on my PC with PIII 800 MHz and 256mb RAM, and gnome ran so slow. so I switched to Kubuntu Gutsy and KDE ran very fast. And I still like Konqueror tabbed browsing and it's split screen feature. It very useful even for file management.

I switched to KDE this year... it's nice to have a desktop for techies again.

I was loyal to gnome for many years, but no longer. gnome = dumbed down

It's too fat, too buggy, and built for dummies. It's hard to imagine what else they can dumb down, but I'm sure they'll continue to do it.

gnome = are you sure? y
are you REALLY sure? Y
look retard, are you REALLY REALLY sure? YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
(window closes) ... did it take?

No, dude, that is Vista. I don't see at all what you're getting at.

I can make KDE look like any other WM/DE but can't make others look like KDE.

KDE suits my every time.

I can switch off any thing while still can reach most of my OS from the 'mouse'.

KDE is really immense and huge, but can be tailored to fit any role.

2k7 belongs to KDE IHMO.