GNOME or KDE?
Which would you like to use?

Neither...

I have just been running some tests: With 3 apps open (Firefox, Thunderbird, and a terminal), click on the tab in the taskbar to switch windows. At the moment, I am in IceWM, and the switch is immediate.

In KDE 4, there is a **significant** lag. Gnome also has a lag. Things like XFCE, LXDE, etc. are ALL faster than either KDE or Gnome.

I'm thinking about how to actually measure this....


There's been no end of talk about how bloated the mainstream DEs are, but it's mostly about startup time, time to load apps, etc. Until KDE4, I never noticed a lag in simply switching windows that are already open.

I'm with kde now.
KDE has more applications than GNOME.

Some would say "clutter", "junk", or something equally uncharitable...

Does KDE give you more functionality---eg do those extra apps actually benefit you?

I use KDE mainly because it offers the best user-swtiching functionality, and certain other things (eg power management) are very well done. I also **really** like Dolphin.

But KDE is really sluggish on my older machine (Athlon 2400XP, 1GB RAM). It's marginally acceptable on my faster laptop.

GNOME may be faster than KDE.

It depends on the use. Gnome usually uses NetworkManager which I love for my laptop. I use KDE on my desktops that can handle it without penalty, and fluxbox on my desktops that are sluggish with KDE.

I like the WICD network tool, which of course can be used on any DE or WM

None of the above.

I prefer Gnome been using it for the longest, every now and then I will log in to kde but I don't really make use of all the apps it comes with, both have their strong points and at the end of the day it just the one you are most comfortable with that you stick to. I also love the speed of lxde xfce and Icewm.

As was very well put by another member

Probably the best way to measure it would be set some things you would do like a youtube video on firefox, watch a movie with vlc/mplayer, and copy a file (an iso of a linux distro would work) or something like that. And have htop open and record the height of cpu and mem usage at its highest. Just my guess.

IMO if you want a complete desktop environment, use Xfce (LXDE might be nice, too, but I was never able to get it to work). It just feels lighter and simpler, and uses less resources.

I, at least for now, like Openbox, with whichever apps I like best from whatever (or no) desktop environment.

pidgin from GNOME is better than kopete.

I agree that GNOME/GTK+ apps are more lightweight. But nobody said that you can't run a KDE app under GNOME or vice versa or under any desktop.

Xfce only comes with the basics, like a file manager (I really like Xfce's file manager), terminal, calender, etc.

Use whatever apps you like with it.

Yes,anyone can use gnome applications in kde or vice versa.