I only gave GNOME a try... so by default I would say KDE Plasma?
Gnome is probably a good choice if you like MacOS' ecosystem and design (maybe also those having touch screens??). But personally I totally hated it... Can't even right click and create a folder/document by default... uggh gives me MacOS PTSD...
KDE plasma is more fitted for those looking for a "Windows" feeling and greater customization.
My personal preference RN is XFCE on EndeavourOS ! Great design, simplicity, elegant, great defaults OOTB...
Vanilla gnome isn't for me so I used to install some extensions when I used it.
After a few hopping, I stopped using Gnome, because I find that painful to :
- install the extension app (the one that allow you to download and manage the extensions, and that is usually not the one installed, it might have changed, as I stopped using Gnome for a year or even more)
- install the extensions I want
- configure the extensions
On KDE, I just have to set it as I need it.
If you do not change distributions everyday, then it's not a big issue I guess.
But it might be troublesome for beginners trying distributions that have vanilla-close gnome to know that extensions exist. My needs are not complicated, so I only used extensions that allow me to have a dock on both of my screens, and to have the minimize button.
I'm team Plasma, but mostly just because every time I touch Gnome it feels like I'm using a really bad copy of OS X that they got bored of copying halfway through and said fuck it, good enough.
Granted, yes, you can tweak it and blah blah blah, but Plasma ships and feels complete and functional right out of the box, and Gnome feels incomplete the more I use it.
I like Plasma, and it's my go-to, but I'm a bit excited to see what System76 does with Cosmic.
I daily drive macOS and Android. GNOME is more like Android to me. Feels too touch focused, where Plasma feels like something actually made for a desktop.
I'd say it's non-mouse focused. Heavy touch or keyboard focus work pretty well, but the mouse really isn't intended as anything more than a helper.
I've only ever used GNOME. What am I missing?
Personally, I particularly find all the included applications more useful. GNOME's definitely aren't bad, but KDE's are often best-in-class, particularly for power users. Like, Okular is the PDF reader I recommend even to Windows users. Dolphin is IMO the best file manager out there. Kate is my favorite text editor.
The customizability regarding the workflow is also important to me. It took a few years of experimenting to figure out my preferred workflow, but I'm now often much better organized than my coworkers, just because this workflow is so helpful for me.
Nothing. I heavenly used both. You can customize kde through the in built settings tools and with GNOME you have to install another app to do it. Same outcome. A user can customize kde a bit more. It's both still linux with the same underlying system.
I just really like KDE, been between that and XFCE for years. Ubuntu's version of gnome when they went to that side bar layout that looks like it's meant for tablets turned me off of trying it again (though probably be great on a tablet). KDE's super customisable too, totally done a faux osx look for my laptop and use more or less stock KDE on my shop computer. I didn't mind older gnome though, isn't that what cinnamon or mate are meant to feel like?
Yeah, MATE is a direct fork from GNOME 2, so pretty much identical in its workflow.
Cinnamon forked from early GNOME 3, because they weren't too happy with the new design direction, but they actually ended up building almost a carbon-copy of the Windows desktop (albeit more customizable and lightweight). Even the keyboard shortcuts are basically identical, which is helpful for newbies switching from Windows to Linux Mint.
I think both are fine for beginners. Both are easy to use and can be good looking.
Certainly Plasma if you're coming from Windows, unless we're considering pre-customized GNOME variants like for example Ubuntu uses.
Sure, KDE can be more complex in terms of configuration and customizability, but the default configuration is already good for most users.
Beginners using vanilla GNOME will quickly miss features like a minimize button and certainly tray icons.
... and feel endless pain from whatever they did to the scrollbars. Seriously, wtf.
Beginners using vanilla GNOME
Beginners will never really be in a position where they'll be using vanilla gnome, so that argument is kinda moot. And even if they did, those features are literally one extension away...
will quickly miss features like a minimize button and certainly tray icons.
Tray icons don't exist in gnome's ecosystem, it only becomes problematic once you get third party applications. The real problems are the minimize/maximize, desktop icons, and panel on top when coming from windows. Although these days with the ever increasing phone use people might just be more at ease with gnome's workflow anyways.
Okay but the comparison was about GNOME vs KDE, not "GNOME modified with 5 extensions and tweaks that may or may not break with the next major update".
Also, most users will want to install third party applications. Your average gamer will likely install Discord and Steam, both of them use a tray icon. And no, most gamers aren't very technical when it comes to their OS.
Gnome if you come from MacOS, KDE if you come from Windows. But, for a beginner, I think that highly customized to be Windows-like Zorin OS or Linux Mint with Cinnamon would be better choices.
GNOME is more different from Windows, which means that users will have to put more effort in to get used to the UI, but it doesn't have as many complicated settings or customizability for EVERYTHING that Plasma does, so it can be less confusing in that sense. I switched to primarily using Plasma a couple years ago and I'm probably with Plasma to stay, but personally I think GNOME might be better for Linux beginners. Though if you really want a beginner-friendly DE, go for Cinnamon.
A question with no right answer, because it is a matter of taste and habits.
Both are very much sophisticated desktop environments which very useful defaults. Neither Gnome nor Plasma are too complicated for beginners and can be customized easily. If you want to you can go very deep into the customization too.
I started with gnome then moved to plasma, that's probably a good way for beginners to go
