Desktop GUI Poll 2008

[geniuz]

I just switched to fluxbox from xfce, can't vote again though...

[vigol]

openSUSE 11 + GNOME 2.22.1 + Amaroking PANTERA => I still alive.

[IsaacKuo]

I think a lot of computers out there aren't retarded. It's pretty amusing when people complain about how slow their computers are when you can buy 2 gigs of RAM for under a $100. Computers aren't expensive. If you drop $500 every 5 years there's not much point to super light weight desktops and window managers. Someone can always make the case for 10 year old machines needing lightweight, but it gets silly with how little computers cost these days.

Besides the issues already mentioned, not every computer is a desktop computer.

There are also laptops, microlaptops, and handhelds. If you buy something as portable as an eeePC for less than $500, it is NOT going to have a ton of RAM and a fast processor.

[masinick]

I use KDE on most of my every day systems, but It probably does not get more than 50% of the usage. Nearly as often, maybe even more often, I use XFCE, which is definitely lighter and faster. XFCE does not have quite as many native applications as KDE, but if all I am going to do is open a Web browser, an Email Client, a console terminal, and a text editor, I opt for XFCE, unless I also intend on using Konqueror, Kontact, K3B, or other KDE applications. Then I definitely use KDE. But when my application usage is really light, I may not use a desktop environment at all. In that case, you may well find me using IceWM, Fluxbox, or even fvwm, all of which offer distinct desktop windows, but do not have a full range of applications, just the window manager.

I voted for KDE. Compared to the listed desktops, I definitely use it the most, but I use or test every desktop listed at least occasionally. The stuff I mentioned above is what I use most frequently. If GNOME is the prominent desktop on the system I am using, I will use it. GNOME is much better than it once was, but KDE is more familiar, given my UNIX background with CDE and early window managers.

[Dapper Dan]

XFCE does not have quite as many native applications as KDE, but if all I am going to do is open a Web browser, an Email Client, a console terminal, and a text editor, I opt for XFCE, unless I also intend on using Konqueror, Kontact, K3B, or other KDE applications. Then I definitely use KDE.

So when you want to use KDE applications, you go out of XFCE and bring up KDE? I don't use XFCE but don't KDE apps work just fine while in XFCE? I run IceWM and have never had a problem with any KDE or Gnome app or utility running while in IceWM. Is that not the case with XFCE?

[jayd512]

I run IceWM and have never had a problem with any KDE or Gnome app or utility running while in IceWM. Is that not the case with XFCE?

I'm curious about the same thing. I've switched over to IceWM and I don't have any problems at all opening any of my apps.

[masinick]

So when you want to use KDE applications, you go out of XFCE and bring up KDE? I don't use XFCE but don't KDE apps work just fine while in XFCE? I run IceWM and have never had a problem with any KDE or Gnome app or utility running while in IceWM. Is that not the case with XFCE?

If I know that I am going to be using a lot of KDE apps I just login with KDE. However, if I happen to need one KDE app, I still run it, whether in XFCE, GNOME, IceWM, Fluxbox, fvwm, or something else. It still works, it is just that you bear the overhead of calling up the app and loading the KDE libraries each time you run, whereas if you are logged in using the desktop, whether it be KDE, GNOME, or XFCE, you get and hold whatever libraries each desktop uses when it starts up. That is why desktops carry some overhead when they start up. On a system with a lot of memory, no big deal. More of an issue on a marginal system - for instance, my oldest desktop has a 1 GHz processor and 256 MB RAM. When KDE was smaller, WAY back in the 1.1 days this worked great. Having grown, it still works, but KDE lumbers as it starts. Therefore, when I use this old system, I do consider the software I will be running before I select whether I will use KDE or some other desktop or window manager. They all work, but which one to choose does affect performance on that old box. If I want to endure a startup slowness but have rich apps, I choose KDE. If I will be mostly browsing, I choose XFCE or a window manager.

[MikeTbob]

I just switched to fluxbox from xfce, can't vote again though...

I seem to switching back to KDE after all. I don't mind the extra start up times or a little lag, KDE just rocks man.

[rokytnji]

Use Gnome for both Ubuntu/Mepis computers. Fluxbox used in Antix computer.

[esquiso]

Fluxbox user over here. Gotta love it