4 ms·

Not GP, but I was also KDE3 user who ran away after the KDE4 (in my eyes) fiasco. I never went back because customizing and learning to use a desktop environmen

Not GP, but I was also KDE3 user who ran away after the KDE4 (in my eyes) fiasco. I never went back because customizing and learning to use a desktop environment is an investment on my side, and if the DE doesn't respect that and doesn't understand why I use it, I will not waste my time with it. But hearing the praise in this thread, maybe I should give KDE another chance? I went to Gnome for a while but never felt at home there, too many weird (to me) ux decisions. I finally settled on Xfce and it works great. Nothing fancy, it just does its job.

hnlmorg 4y ago
Interesting that you mentioned GNOME because it was only a couple of years later that GNOME 3 was released and that was a far more significant change to the UX than KDE 3 to 4. Around that time there seemed to be a lot of changes to the FOSS DE landscape. I’ve not used XFCE in 10 or 15 years but I always had a good experience when I did need it. In fact I preferred that over GNOME too. Completely just my personal preference, though the leaner footprint was a big incentive. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. All this stuff basically boils down to personal preferences at the end of the day, but it’s often interesting hearing what peoples preferences are.
- bornfreddy 4y ago
  I wasn't using Gnome before that so the changes didn't affect me much... :) Iirc I switched to xfce very quickly too. I agree, every person has a different set of preferences and priorities. For me it just has to work reliably and not get in my way, and design is less important. But I still try to make my desktops look good.
- LarryMullins 4y ago
  GNOME 3 and KDE 4 both committing usability seppuku at around the same time was really odd. Both these disasters were immediately preceded by the release of the first iPhone. I think maybe iOS broke the devs, made the KDE and GNOME devs feel inadequate so they started flailing around and hurt themselves in an attempt to reinvent things and prove to themselves that they could reinvent like Apple can.
  - hnlmorg 4y ago
    The winds were already changing for PCs before then. Compiz and Beryl had been out for a good few years and really showed off what desktop compositing could do. Then Windows Vista was released and, putting popular opinions aside for one moment, visually it looked next generation compared to XP. So it’s only natural that the leading two FOSS desktop environments follow suit. iOS certainly would have helped fuel the change too but you could see this trend in desktop UX even before the first iPhone was announced.
  - tjrDL6MjB2Zwwa 4y ago
    I too had a certain distaste for the leadership decisions of both camps.

hnlmorg 4y ago

Interesting that you mentioned GNOME because it was only a couple of years later that GNOME 3 was released and that was a far more significant change to the UX than KDE 3 to 4. Around that time there seemed to be a lot of changes to the FOSS DE landscape. I’ve not used XFCE in 10 or 15 years but I always had a good experience when I did need it. In fact I preferred that over GNOME too. Completely just my personal preference, though the leaner footprint was a big incentive. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. All this stuff basically boils down to personal preferences at the end of the day, but it’s often interesting hearing what peoples preferences are.

bornfreddy 4y ago
I wasn't using Gnome before that so the changes didn't affect me much... :) Iirc I switched to xfce very quickly too. I agree, every person has a different set of preferences and priorities. For me it just has to work reliably and not get in my way, and design is less important. But I still try to make my desktops look good.
LarryMullins 4y ago
GNOME 3 and KDE 4 both committing usability seppuku at around the same time was really odd. Both these disasters were immediately preceded by the release of the first iPhone. I think maybe iOS broke the devs, made the KDE and GNOME devs feel inadequate so they started flailing around and hurt themselves in an attempt to reinvent things and prove to themselves that they could reinvent like Apple can.
- hnlmorg 4y ago
  The winds were already changing for PCs before then. Compiz and Beryl had been out for a good few years and really showed off what desktop compositing could do. Then Windows Vista was released and, putting popular opinions aside for one moment, visually it looked next generation compared to XP. So it’s only natural that the leading two FOSS desktop environments follow suit. iOS certainly would have helped fuel the change too but you could see this trend in desktop UX even before the first iPhone was announced.
- tjrDL6MjB2Zwwa 4y ago
  I too had a certain distaste for the leadership decisions of both camps.