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I really recommend trying out the Ubuntu KDE flavour (KUbuntu). I really like it as being more usable and configurable than Unity and Gnome.

shrikrishna 13y ago
I completely agree with you on this. The level of customization that can be done with KDE is unparalleled. Every bit of it is hackable
- danford 13y ago
  GNOME is extremely customizable too if you know JavaScript and CSS, plus you get the advantage of a much lighter interface. It does lack some of the features of KDE though, but I don't spend much time outside of a terminal, text editor, browser, and pdf reader. KDE has to many buttons for me :) I think it's more of a desktop for people who are use to using a lot of advanced features on Windows, because they're used to and enjoy the idea of having a button for this and a window and sub-menu for that. GNOME is more for people who either don't use advanced features, or use the terminal for advanced features. Personally I'm over the traditional desktop.
etfb 13y ago
I was on Kubuntu when it shifted from 3.5 to 4.0. Gods, what a mess that was! I presume it's had time to settle down now; is it back to being as reliable as 3.5 was? Or do people with long memories still have to grit their teeth at all the missing features?
- wolf550e 13y ago
  KDE 4.0 was released on January 2008. KDE has improved since then.
  - glesica 13y ago
    Has it? I've tried two recent versions of Kubuntu (14.04 being the most recent) and found both of them so buggy and unpolished as to be practically unusable. I want to love KDE so badly because I love so much about it (the apps are powerful, you can actually configure things, it uses Qt) but the target audience appears, to me, to be people who make Youtube videos demonstrating KDE, not people who actually want to use it to do work. YMMV, as always :)
danford 13y ago
Eh.. I think it's only more usable if you're coming from and are used to a traditional desktop like Windows. If you were introducing someone to a computer for the first time, GNOME 3 is by far the most simple and easiest to use desktop on the market right now. Yes even more usable than windows 8 for someone who has never used an OS before. As for configurability KDE has quite a few more years under it's belt, so it's not a surprise, but GNOME 3 is all JS and CSS so I would say it's pretty configurable and the number of extensions is only going to increase. I think extensions will become much more stable around GNOME 4.0, when they come out with a full OS [1] [1]http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTE0ODg http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTE0ODg
- stesch 13y ago
  The first GUI I used was Intuition (AmigaOS). What would you recommend?
  - danford 13y ago
    I think I was still pooping my britches when you were using that, so I haven't had much experience with it, but KDE is probably more similar to it than GNOME. I would recommend you use what ever you feel most comfortable with. Of course if you have any experience with mobile OS's like iOS or android, GNOME shouldn't be too hard for you to pick up.
  - aruggirello 13y ago
    Unity, definitely. Having window menus appear / disappear right in the top bar, much like the beloved, glorious Amiga did in the golden days of computing :) makes it probably the closest you can get - that is, without turning on your old Amiga or installing AROS :) I don't use Unity though - KDE suits my taste better. But that's the beauty of Linux, you get to choose whatever desktop you prefer.
- microwise 13y ago
  But how many people have never used an OS before? Very few in my opinion, and majority have already seen other OS in action already

shrikrishna 13y ago

I completely agree with you on this. The level of customization that can be done with KDE is unparalleled. Every bit of it is hackable

danford 13y ago
GNOME is extremely customizable too if you know JavaScript and CSS, plus you get the advantage of a much lighter interface. It does lack some of the features of KDE though, but I don't spend much time outside of a terminal, text editor, browser, and pdf reader. KDE has to many buttons for me :) I think it's more of a desktop for people who are use to using a lot of advanced features on Windows, because they're used to and enjoy the idea of having a button for this and a window and sub-menu for that. GNOME is more for people who either don't use advanced features, or use the terminal for advanced features. Personally I'm over the traditional desktop.

etfb 13y ago

I was on Kubuntu when it shifted from 3.5 to 4.0. Gods, what a mess that was! I presume it's had time to settle down now; is it back to being as reliable as 3.5 was? Or do people with long memories still have to grit their teeth at all the missing features?

wolf550e 13y ago
KDE 4.0 was released on January 2008. KDE has improved since then.
- glesica 13y ago
  Has it? I've tried two recent versions of Kubuntu (14.04 being the most recent) and found both of them so buggy and unpolished as to be practically unusable. I want to love KDE so badly because I love so much about it (the apps are powerful, you can actually configure things, it uses Qt) but the target audience appears, to me, to be people who make Youtube videos demonstrating KDE, not people who actually want to use it to do work. YMMV, as always :)

danford 13y ago

Eh.. I think it's only more usable if you're coming from and are used to a traditional desktop like Windows. If you were introducing someone to a computer for the first time, GNOME 3 is by far the most simple and easiest to use desktop on the market right now. Yes even more usable than windows 8 for someone who has never used an OS before. As for configurability KDE has quite a few more years under it's belt, so it's not a surprise, but GNOME 3 is all JS and CSS so I would say it's pretty configurable and the number of extensions is only going to increase. I think extensions will become much more stable around GNOME 4.0, when they come out with a full OS [1] [1]http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTE0ODg http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTE0ODg

stesch 13y ago
The first GUI I used was Intuition (AmigaOS). What would you recommend?
- danford 13y ago
  I think I was still pooping my britches when you were using that, so I haven't had much experience with it, but KDE is probably more similar to it than GNOME. I would recommend you use what ever you feel most comfortable with. Of course if you have any experience with mobile OS's like iOS or android, GNOME shouldn't be too hard for you to pick up.
- aruggirello 13y ago
  Unity, definitely. Having window menus appear / disappear right in the top bar, much like the beloved, glorious Amiga did in the golden days of computing :) makes it probably the closest you can get - that is, without turning on your old Amiga or installing AROS :) I don't use Unity though - KDE suits my taste better. But that's the beauty of Linux, you get to choose whatever desktop you prefer.
microwise 13y ago
But how many people have never used an OS before? Very few in my opinion, and majority have already seen other OS in action already