KDE vs Xfce

[photoman]

I know this probably isn't specifically an Ubuntu question but I'm curious what the differences are between the KDE desktop and the Xfce. My very limited understanding of it is that KDE is a bit more along the lines of offering more eye candy whereas Xfce is a bare-bone style of desktop. If I'm wrong, that's fine. Just let me know. Also, are there other desktop environments out there that are really super nice? I use a Sun Solaris system at work and the desktop is tack-sharp with wonderful graphics and all that. I would like something similar for my laptop but it doesn't appear that KDE or Xfce offers something like that.

Good day!

[coopstah13]

just look at screen shots, the other "major" WM is gnome, i believe that is what solaris uses

[oz]

KDE4 is a much heavier environment than is Xfce4. It is also much more eye-candy oriented. KDE4 still has more than it's share of bugs, but it is getting better. If you want eye-candy, go with KDE4. If you want lean and lightweight, go with Xfce4.

[D-cat]

You pretty much have the right idea.

I personally prefer KDE 3.5 because it's stable and the operation is familiar to a migrating Windows user (I've long completed the migration, I just still like KDE).

XFCE is a pretty bare/light-weight desktop that's still pretty configurable and powerful. It is able to integrate libraries from Gnome and KDE, so you can still run pretty much any app you want.

As a power user, I find the XFCE doesn't do certain things, mainly from a file management standpoint, that KDE does do; this is not to say you can't do everything with XFCE that you can with KDE, it's just not as easy IMO. KDE is more than eye candy, functionally for example, it also as active file dialogs (similar to Windows) which XFCE/Gnome doesn't employ. By the nature of increased function, it also uses more resources, so it's slow on older computers.

If you are operating under tight RAM constrictions or and older processor but still want universal functionality, XFCE is the desktop of choice. Otherwise, I'd suggest you actually use Gnome or try KDE (3.5, as mentioned 4 is still buggy). Also note that this is not a decision you absolutely have to make now and forever; you are able to install all the windows managers you want at any time and choose which one to load at log-in, so it's not hard to try all of them out and decide later which one you like or works best for your needs.

[reed9]

Why don't you check out some of XFCE's features?

I use XFCE on my laptop, though it has more than enough processing power and RAM to run GNOME or KDE. But I enjoy the speed and look of it. The eye candy isn't as extensive as with KDE4, but I would argue it's equivalent to or better than GNOME. (The built-in compositing with the XFCE window manager works much better for me than with GNOME - I get weird artifacts using AWN in GNOME.) You can also run compiz as the window manager instead, of course.

[photoman]

Hey reed9, there is a photo at that ImageShack site of screen shots. One of them is a beautiful winter scene. Where do I get that scheme? That is what I am looking for. I'm a radar/combat system engineer by day but a photographer by night and black and white happens to be something I really enjoy! I'd love to have that on my laptop!!

Thanks.

[reed9]

I'm afraid mine is just the minimalist black shot. I'm not sure where the other fellow got his/her background from, but there are a lot of places to find photos and backgrounds if you google around.

[Charles4809]

For Xfce themes and wallpapers you best look here
Happy searching