Stephan Sokolow (He/Him)

True. Back in the KDE 3.5 era, I used Konqueror as my file manager in every desktop I worked with because GnomeVFS never worked right for me and, nowadays, I use Filelight in LXDE because Baobab's radial view is a poor imitation.

Aside from the set of applications they often provide extra integraton with, I think the big thing about desktops is how they have a lot of power to help or hinder you in interacting with your apps. Windows 8's tablet-obsessed approach to switching tasks is a great example of that.

Efficiency is also a big deal. My mother isn't a power user, but she prefers to be on Lubuntu because it's lightweight enough to measurably improve her ability to do heavy graphics work on an old Sempron 2800+ with 2GiB of RAM.

A good rationale and I love trying new things as much as the next guy when time permits... but keep in mind that results may vary.

I generally think that GNOME 3 is an improvement on GNOME 2... but that's like saying that I hate spicy foods less than sauerkraut.

I used to be a happy KDE 3.5 user (because it let me use my computer the way <strong>I</strong> wanted) but KDE 4 (even up to 4.5 when it ran out of goodwill) ignored everything I looked for in a desktop (stability, performance, a good build of Konqueror for use as a file manager and KPart harness in one) so I now run LXDE.

In fact, while it's not GNOME Shell, my brother just switched from Ubuntu's Unity to Lubuntu-flavored LXDE for similar performance-inspired reasons... after using Unity for months and Lubuntu-flavored LXDE for two days.

I will admit that GNOME Shell's dynamically-changing number of workspaces is a feature I've always wanted... but neither I nor my brother find the modern enhancements to be worth the resource cost of running a heavy compositor and "well enough" optimized apps just to get them. (I'll probably write an Openbox+Tiling-style config for AwesomeWM some day)

I <strong>know</strong> that I'll never use Nautilus now that they've started stripping away features I consider essential in pursuit of tablet users. (I'm not part of their target market anymore and probably never will be. I can't stand typing without tactile feedback.)