Desktop Environment of the Year
 

Always an interesting topic, which is your favorite?

Also a difficult one for me. It's a battle between KDE and XFCE 4.2 beta.

It may be a resource hog but I like KDE -- J.W.

kde is the best

While I don't bother with resources, KDE is my choice (even bought T-shirt to support their work) :)

Edit: I'm dumb.

XFCE 4.2 Beta. It is lightweight and very customised. Most applications will open faster in XFCE that in KDE / Gnome.
The 4.2 version has a menu editor, so that the desktop menu is customisable easier than in the previous versions where you had to edit config files.

For Windows people, KDE is best since it is most similar to Windows.

--Ian

KDE all the way! In spite of many bad things that people have to say about this DE, I find that in actual usage KDE is very friendly and easy to use. Many people many disagree, but there you are: I am a GUI person and somehow I have never felt comfy with Gnome.

Xfce, ligth and flexible.

KDE has come SO far since I started with linux over 2.5 years ago.
I just wish they would work more on the web browser (konqueror).

KDE for me. :)

The choice between gnome and kde was really hard. KDE settings and menus are better. Gnome looks cleaner but KDE can look good too. Some things annoyed me in gnome and I couldn't find a way to change it so I chose KDE.
I use fluxbox though.

Gnome 2.8 in Ubuntu is so sweet. I'll admit that XFCE has come along way, though.

I tried and like XFCE4. I like IceWM. Don't like Gnome much. But no matter what I try, I always find myself coming back to KDE.

The "threat" to allow Konqueror to use the Gecko engine rather than KHTML means it will continue to maintain its lead for the forseeable future!

KDE here, but like others have said XFCE4 has certainly come a long way. Like what kind of window manager can run on a P2 266 with 96ram and a Matrox Mill II ? XFCE4, that's what does - and does it well with resources left over.

although i voted for Gnome, XFCE is also one of my favorites.

I haven't had the pleasure of using Xfce this year, for a good amount of time, so I will go with Gnome this year. I really was impressed when I saw it in Gnoppix and Ubuntu. Nice work.

though XFCE is nice and I keep hearing good things, I feel obligated to know a lot about KDE since that's the desktop many people are going to use when I drag them forcibly out of windows, heheh... I use it now and then but stay in fluxbox most of the time... I still enjoy seeing KDE get better every year and while a few nifty functions are missing, it blows the WinXP shell (Explorer) completely away.

I used to like XFCE, but Im a KDEer at heart.

I gotta go with KDE. I've been using it for years and it's never let me down.

Although I typically stick to WMs, when I have to use a DE I always lean towards Xfce.

KDE RULZ..........u can customize just anything in KDE. I have heard that in KDE 4 you will be able to change the earth's rotational speed from the KDE Control Center :D

KDE 3.3.1, it's finally stable. No more Konqueror crashing, no more system tray apps freezing my computer (that was KDE 3.2.1) Besides that, go KDE for its features and customizablity.

xfce4 all the way. no bloat gets my vote. :D

XFCE........faaaaast, customizable, easy on your resources,runs well on old and newer hardware.....plus I setup only the applications that I actually use. Don't need the kitchen sink


MY 2

Fluxbox
 

Where is fluxbox?

Re: Fluxbox
 

Window managers are in the Window Manager Poll.

switched from kde to gnome to xfce in the last year, but am back to KDE.

Gotta go with good old KDE. It's just what works for me, good job KDE team.

It's toss up between XFCE and FluxBox. I chose XFCE since that's my favorite of the 2 this week.

I like the 2 of them because they're different then KDE and GNOME, which to me don't look like anymore then Windows Clones. However my experience with the KDE and GNOME is limited.

Now I had better go board up my house before the masses that I've stirred with that last comment come kill me.

KDE is the best.
XFCE 4 is also good.

I usually prefer stand alone WM's like Ion, WMI, or ratposion, but if I do employ an environment, XFCE 4.2 beta (seems stable enough to me...) is leanest and fastest while still offering simplicity and some eye candy.
KDE and Gnome are both fine choices for those making the switch from Micro$loth interface. Both reasonablu "intuitive" for those moving over from the windows world.

Xfce4 is my favorite de. I liked gnome and kde, probably kde a little more than gnome, but not as much as I like Xfce4.

KDE.

Woohoo! That was on the top of my feature wishlist. :)

I am a non-expert newbie who installed Vector Linux from a downloaded ISO a few months ago.I have been using IceWM ever since with nary a problem or a grumble.So (excuse my ignorance please)whichever DE this means I am using ,it gets my vote. (KDE ?)

KDE

KDE - more intuitive.. Gnome --- well if I have too

I've always found Gnome to be the more professional, "held-together" looking of the environments. KDE has always looked a little too toy-like to me. I realize that that's part of the fun, but I love Gnome, especially now with 2.8.

GNOME all the way, baby!

Using Ice means you're not using a DE at all (unless you specifically plug it into one). So go vote for Ice in the Window Manager poll. :)

best desktop environment
 

It's been a good year for the desktop. KDE integration is getting tighter. Gnome 2.8 took a big leap in completeness and elegance. But I think the winner must be Xfce -- utterly configurable by mouse, a rich combination of themes, a slick installer, and so fast, even on lower end hardware, it must be seen to be believed. It loaded Openoffice four times faster than Gnome or KDE.

I've never tried XFCE 4, I've only been around KDE & GNOME. I liked KDE at first, but I switched to GNOME because of those sexy movable panels!

Gnome is quite good. I used to use KDE primarily, but it's way slow compared to Gnome.

KDE for me

I like ttys.
on gui gnome is good1.

The only one that can pry me away from Fluxbox for awhile is XFce.

MagicMan

GNOME all the way...

I used to love the old GNOME 1.4, but it's dead and gone now :cry: Except in Debian Woody... ;)
Used KDE for a long time, but kept jumping back to GNOME.
Now I prefer GNOME (2.8.1 rocks!!), and will probably not go back to KDE again (KOffice lacks in support for MS Office file types - but I admit has some other nice features (that I don't use...)).

I use XFCE now because it is lightweight and not a memory-eater. I used to like GNOME but switched to XFCE because apps run/load faster in XFCE than in GNOME.

KDE - even though I still can't get RealPlayer to work propoerly. It does work under Gnome.

I like Gnome very much.