I currently have four main computers in my life:

• My Dell D610 laptop, is running Kubuntu Feisty, with a KDE (3.5.6) desktop
• My home server is running Xubuntu Dapper, with an XFCE (4.3.90.2) desktop
• My work desktop PC, running Ubuntu Dapper, with a Gnome (2.14.3) desktop
• My work laptop, an Apple MacBook Pro, with Mac OS X (10.4.10) desktop

For completeness, I also have a couple of (real and virtual) Windows machines kicking around, running XP. I’ve briefly touched Vista (mainly studying whatever has provoked the latest stream of invective from my wife). And, prior to the rise of Ubuntu, I spent seven years running Slackware, with WindowMaker as my main desktop environment.

So, I thought I’d write up some thoughts, particularly on the four main environments I work in. This is all just my opinion – a review of the four main environments I use. I don’t say much about Windows – just don’t.

Anyway, this all started in early 2006. I needed to get my laptop to hibernate. Many hours had been lost attempting this in Slackware to no avail. I needed to look elsewhere. Years of leading an always-on desktop lifestyle meant I struggled in a laptop world, where you switch your PC off and have to reload all your applications the next day.

Gnome / Ubuntu Dapper

I installed Ubuntu Dapper. Hibernation worked. I decided to stick with the default Gnome desktop (Metacity – although I will use the generic term Gnome throughout).

I lasted about two days. Gnome was pretty and clean, but functionally crippled. I have 10 desktops – some are general purpose and some are dedicated to certain tasks. For example, I always have Firefox running on Desktop 9 (or “Browser”). Gnome had no way of making my apps appear in the right place. I had to load Firefox, then move it to Desktop 9. And I couldn’t drag it. I had to right-click and tell it to move. I also have lots of keyboard shortcuts. Gnome apparently provided no way to set these.I switched back to WindowMaker.

WindowMaker didn’t integrate so nicely with Ubuntu though. After a few days I reluctantly returned to Gnome – assuming it was my lack of Gnome skills at fault rather than the software.

I discovered Devils Pie, an application that makes windows appear on the right desktop. It’s not great, but Gnome is useless without it. I also tried Brightside, to allow dragging between desktops. I stopped using it quite quickly – can’t remember why.I discovered gconf-editor. The Gnome equivalent of hacking the Windows registry. It’s a dire user experience, but allowed me to set keyboard shortcuts.

It was clear Gnome had been stripped of standard Linux desktop flexibility in order to make it “easy” to use. And perhaps they succeeded. Gnome is easier to use in the same way that my car would be easier to drive if it had no gearstick. Certainly less stuff to be confused about – but I’m not sure how I’d get it to move. Gnome is easy to use for about the first five minutes – then it’s stifling.

Added to this, things felt sluggish after WindowMaker. Not sure why something as limited as Gnome seems to be so heavyweight. I have no interest in eye-candy – I switch off animations and shadows and translucent windows and background images – they’ve always struck me as resource and time hogs. When I click minimise, I want the window to go away – I don’t want to watch a cartoon of a window going away. Despite my lightweight approach, and Gnome’s lightweight functionality, the computer was sluggish.

XFCE / Xubuntu Dapper

So when I reinstalled my aging home server (Athlon XP 1800+) I installed XFCE (Xubuntu). Not too much to say about this. XFCE looks nearly identical to Gnome – but is faster and more usable. Window dragging works properly with no additional software. Sadly Devils Pie is still a necessary evil. XFCE seemed less well integrated with Ubuntu than Gnome was, but if XFCE and Gnome were the only choices, I don’t think I could make a good argument for Gnome.

XFCE is not sluggish even on my old hardware (which I work pretty hard). Not sure if hibernation works – the server is always on, so haven’t tried.

A year passes…

Hibernation was failing on my laptop around 30% of the time due to problems with the Gnome background services. After hibernation, I couldn’t get any Gnome-based windows to appear for about half-an-hour when it would fix itself. It’s a bug that’s well reported but without a fix. Plus I was increasingly using my laptop while out and about. The Gnome network selector is probably the worst piece of software I’ve ever used. Just awful.

So a couple of months back I upgraded my laptop to Kubuntu Feisty. This coincided with getting a work Macbook Pro.

KDE / Kubuntu

Hibernation has worked flawlessly since my upgrade – so that’s my main requirement sorted.

And I love KDE.

KDE seems faster than Gnome (perhaps I just have better video drivers in Feisty). The font anti-aliasing makes for a very crisp screen. Applications load on the desktop I want them to, without Devils Pie or other workarounds. KDE is more beautiful to look at than Gnome. It has many options, generally presented in a non-confusing way and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to a newbie.

I think KDE is a stunning piece of software. I am quite critical and intolerant of software generally – as I sit here now, my only real criticism is that the network configuration tool is only marginally better than Gnome’s.

Since switching to KDE I even feel a new love for my laptop…

… although that is partially helped by the fact that I’m also using the MacBook.

Apple MacBook Pro / Mac OS X

The MacBook is pretty. And I realise Apple stuff is a lifestyle/fashion choice. It has a nice metal case, a cool magnetic power supply and a stunningly bright screen – better than anything I’ve ever seen on a laptop.

It also has a silly single mouse button, a spongy unresponsive keyboard, a daft keyboard layout, an ill-conceived screen hinge and lights such that when the lid is closed I can’t tell if it’s on or off and it’s DVD drive opens to the front preventing the use of most laptop stands. It has a wide-screen format (although it seems all current laptops have that) – wide screen is great for movies, but rubbish for just about everything else.

I’m getting off topic talking about the hardware. And you may laugh. But fashion choice aside, my Dell is a better designed computer.

Anyway. Mac OS X. Seems that Gnome and KDE are both influenced by it quite heavily (and I’m just assuming here that it’s not the other way round). KDE seems to have borrowed some of the nice twiddles – such as the configuration panel. Gnome seems to have inherited it’s cripplingly limited unconfigurable approach.

It doesn’t have multiple desktops. That’s a killer to my productivity. I generally can’t switch off animations (just choose between them). I like a dark desktop background. Unfortunately I only appear to be able to choose between 10 possible background colours of muted pastel tones.

Essentially you don’t seem to be able to do anything with your configuration that pulls you too far away from what Apple want – lest someone sees you using their hardware without the appropriate corporate look.Can’t work out how to do keyboard shortcuts. Applications (and this isn’t Mac OS X’s problem I guess) tend to overuse translucency, so if more than one or two apps are running, the screen is horrendously confused. It’s generally not possible to maximise windows to block out the background confusion. I endlessly find myself minimising things to work out what’s going on. Font anti-aliasing makes characters fuzzy rather than crisp like in KDE.

I like the F9 window “deconfuser” function. But I’d swap it for multiple desktops and freedom to maximise and resize windows.

I apologise to Mac lovers if you’ve solved all these problems, or don’t view them as problems. I’m new to Macs and maybe I’ve missed the point, or maybe the functions I want are all there. But I’m not new to computers – and I tend to blame the software if I can’t work out how to do something I believe should be obvious.

I can see why you’d love Mac OS X if you’d only ever previously used Windows. Mac OS X would blow you away. And I believe there are some great apps available for Mac OS X that aren’t available for Linux. But Mac OS X doesn’t touch KDE’s combination of power and flexibility while still being simple and intuitive to use.

Conclusions

So there we have it. My opinion as a user of many desktop environments. Use KDE.

I’ve now installed Kubuntu on the Mac. Linux on the Mac is a bit of an effort – it doesn’t hibernate (but then, neither does Mac OS X). And it doesn’t fix my issues with the hardware… but it pretty much works and makes me productive in a way that I couldn’t be in Mac OS X.

KDE 4 is coming soon. I’m concerned. I’ve found a rare thing – a piece of software I love. I hope KDE doesn’t get dumbed down in an effort to chase Mac OS X. Removing flexibility and functionality does not make a product more usable – I think that Gnome proves that less, is indeed, less.