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Ashutosh Dash
Ashutosh Dash

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KDE vs GNOME

I'm currently using Ubuntu 20.04 with Gnome 3.36 on my laptop.
Specs: i3 7th gen, 4GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB HDD.
I heard many people saying as GNOME is bloated and I'm experiencing some performance issues.
I'm thinking of moving to KDE as it looks great and quite snappy as far I have seen in YouTube.
What are your thoughts? Is it worth shifting? Also which one should I choose between Kubuntu and KDE Neon?

Top comments (6)

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ymiyugy profile image
YmiYugy

If you are running Ubuntu 20.04 you are probably running GNOME 3.36 and not 3.6.
Besides that GNOME performance has gotten quite a bit better with 3.38. If you are comfortable going off the LTS path and use Ubuntu 20.10 it’s worth a try before switching KDE.
I try KDE every once in a while and while the performance advantage on my machines is more or less negligible, but you experience might differ.
What keeps me coming back to GNOME is the more refined, more consistent and frankly better user experience of the desktop and many of the applications you would typically use with it.
In my opinion KDE suffers greatly from cluttered and confusing menus with lots but often half backed features.
KDE also relies on many paradigms that are in line with a traditional desktop but feel a bit antiquated.
Both desktop environments are perfectly suitable as a daily drivers. It really comes down to personal preference.
If GNOME runs fast enough I would always prefer it, but KDE would definitely be my second choice.
I think that every other desktop is to experimental or to antiquated to be considered a viable option.
As for the window managers many people swear by, I feel like they require such an ungodly amount of work that it just isn’t worth it unless you consider the configuration of you desktop an enjoyable activity in itself.

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ashutoshdash profile image
Ashutosh Dash

thanks a lot, that was really insightfull

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sivakumarskr profile image
Sivakumar R

Try lubuntu. It's lightweight, fast.

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awesomeironman profile image
Cyrus Gracias

Try Manjaro Linux with KDE edition
Moving to Manjaro XFCE (I have potato PC) from Ubuntu Gnome was my best decision
It's performant, AUR is awesome, non-bloated

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linhtch90 profile image
Linh Truong Cong Hong • Edited

I have used Kubuntu 20.04 LTS for a while. IMHO, you should try it. Kubuntu is light weight, fast, stable and user-friendly.
I don't have good experience with GNOME 3.

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patarapolw profile image
Pacharapol Withayasakpunt • Edited

I have good experience with MATE, GNOME 2 and Xfce.

Currently on Xfce.

Never liked GNOME 3.