I searched. I didn't find. Please don't hurt me if it's been posted recently.

Background, off-topic: My extent of Linux use has been limited to installing Mandrake and pretty much using KDE with zero customization, then abandoning Linux 2-3 weeks later since I used it so little and the bootloader would get on my nerves (dual boot with 98). Once either Mandrake 10.1 or Debian 3.1 is released within the next few weeks, I plan on picking up either of those and installing them to (hopefully) start using Linux more seriously and learning it.

Topic: Because I don't have a working installation of Linux right now, my exposure has been limited to sites like this and websites for the distros. Well, I started looking on both KDElook.org and Gnomelook.org to find learn about each, decide which would be the best for me, and begin finding things I could use to customize them. Maybe this wasn;t the best way to learn, because I'm somewhat confused now. They both have the standard things I'd expect to find (wallpapers, themes, etc.) but all the extra stuff has really prompted me to think about what exactly each one is capable of doing and the pros/cons of each. KDElook.org has things like "Karamba", "KDE Imporvements", and "Window Decorations", while Gnomelook.org has far fewer items yet has things like "Metacity" and "XMMS Themes". I am (probably incorrectly) assuming that things designed for KDE will not work on Gnome (and vice versa), so what care some of the things that make each one unique over the other? Thanks for helping me to clear this up.

people are going to tell you to try both and choose for yourself, which is true for just about anything like this in linux (window managers, distros, software, etc.). so that's what i'm going to recommend. you can find all sorts of threads related to this by doing a search of "kde gnome" with LQ's search feature.

It's really just a matter of choice.
I use KDE because I think it looks nicer than Gnome - and for no other reason than that.
KDE is quite large and bloaty though, so if your PC is toward the lower end of the specification scale, maybe you should try something like Fluxbox.

I use Gnome because it's simpler, less complicated.

Konqueror in KDE looks like a Christmas tree. But, maybe you like Christmas.

XMMS themes will work with XMMS regardless of which environment you're running. In fact, pretty much any Winamp skin will work with XMMS.

I use Gnome because it's cleaner, less cluttered, and just seems more elegant to me. However, there are some apps specifically designed for KDE that you may find indispensible like k3b and...well, that's the only one I can think of right now that would be nice to have.

You could always install both if you've got the space. Many people don't like the idea of having the libraries for both KDE and Gnome installed on one system, but if it's fast enough and you have plenty of disk space I wouldn't worry about it.

My primary desktop is Gnome, but I also have another copy of my primary distro that I can boot into running KDE. My browser is firefox in every environment.

So does that mean (in the case of apps like k3b) as long as I have the KDE libraries installed, programs specifically designed for KDE would work in other environments such as Gnome?

Yep, that's right. If they don't interoperate correctly it's a bug.

I use both KDE and Gnome because I want the applications that come with both to work on my machine. I personally use KDE a lot because a lot of my favourite games are within KDE. Eg. ksirtet, ksnake, ksame, kwin4, kmines, ktron, kfouleggs etc.

I think that newbies can start with KDE not because it's easier than Gnome or anything (in fact both are equally easy to use) but because you get a lot of desktop games with it (at least my distro came with).

KDE is supposed to be the most like Windows, so if you're used to Windows which you probably are KDE might be easier to use than Gnome.
KDE is big so Gnome is better for slower computers (or a small harddrive).
But it won't LOOK the same. The KDE program won't blend in with the rest of Gnome because it would be using different style buttons and stuff.
And you mentioned Karamba. Karamba doesn't work in Gnome. I think it's because it depends on the windowmanager and Gnome uses a different windowmanger.

I think KDE's "Christmas tree" is awesome. It's way more than a filemanager. You can use it to look at pictures, play music and movies, FTP, browse the web, rip CDs, convert pictures...

I find GNOME cleaner and easier to use. I'd definitely give any non-technical user GNOME rather than KDE.