Why I Switched from GNOME to KDE

May 14, 2009
By

Bruce Byfield

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However, none of these differences were enough to cause me any confusion. By the end of the first day, I was comfortable in KDE, even though every time I opened an app, I was haunted by a sense of unfamiliarity. That sense of newness, partly intriguing and partly irritating, lasted for about a week. Yet not once did I have any trouble beyond having to search a minute or two for a feature, and I never resorted once to the online help.

The big deal about the switch was that the switch was no big deal. For all the flame wars about GNOME and KDE, the differences between them are more cosmetic than functional. In practice, the two desktops are far more similar than different. You could easily write a list of equivalent applications for them, and, for many users, the differences between the applications would be trivial. Apart from the themes, most users would hardly know which desktop most apps were designed for.

The next switch

With few differences in daily computing, the main advantage of the switch is that it gives me an environment in which to explore some of the developments in which I am currently most interested. As I have written before, KDE currently seems a center of innovation in the desktop, so I want to be able to explore those innovations while they last.

That said, GNOME might soon convince me to return to it. The plans for a new desktop based on GNOME-Shell seem sketchy so far to me, but are still an experiment that I don't want to miss. Ubuntu One, the online storage service scheduled to be integrated into the next Ubuntu release, may also tempt me back to GNOME because it is the Ubuntu default -- to say nothing of Mark Shuttleworth's forced march towards greater usability.

To anyone with a strong interest in the development of the free desktop, all these developments are things to anticipate, regardless of how they turn out. All the same, until they are more advanced -- and probably for the next half year, at least -- KDE is likely to be my default vantage point. For now, it's closer to where more of the action is.

ALSO SEE: Can GNOME Regain the Evolutionary Advantage over KDE?

AND: Aaron Seigo Talks About KDE's Past and Future