KDE advantages?

[skjones007]

Thinking about switching to the KDE version from Cinnamon. What are some of the advantages - speed, more polished, uses less resources?

[Art3mis9]

Well from your specs, KDE shouldn't cause any concern in terms of resource usage. I think the main thing to consider is your workflow; if a DE allows you to work how like to work, is there when you need it and doesn't get in the way when you're busy, then it's a winner. If you were trying to run a stable system on a lower spec machine, then obviously you may be willing to sacrifice comfort for efficient usage of resources, but it all depends largely on how KDE "feels" for you.

I spent 10+ years using GNOME. Big changes occurred when they went from version 2.x to 3, and I certainly didn't like it. It also was a lot less stable on my hardware than previous incarnations. It also rendered my poor little laptop with its onboard graphics and puny memory useless, so I had to go with XFCE on that one, but I was still comfortable working with the overall system, so I ran with it.

Then I started using KDE and had one of those where-have-you-been-all-my-life? moments. It is far and away the most feature-rich DE out there, and is solid as a rock on my system. Dolphin is the best file manager I've ever used, and there have been plenty! If - like me - you're never away from the Terminal, then Konsole in another KDE app with a huge feature set. I'm in the lucky position of having resources aplenty, but even so given it's feature set I find it very efficient. I had a small glitch with the graphics out of the box where hovering over stuff with the mouse would cause a pixel-like distortion, causing text to become unreadable if it was near the mouse. But experience told me to have a look at the compositor render mode - which KDE handily has a menu for - and viola, problem solved!

So, I guess what I'm saying is give it a good, thorough test. And be sure to let me know how you get on!

Regards,

Art3mis9

[Hoser Rob]

First off, if you want to try KDE, dl the live boot MInt KDE iso and boot it from a USB stick. Don't just install KDE ... you'll lilely break something and have to back up & reinstall. Well, reinstalling is generally the best way to fix that sort of thing.

I used to use KDE and I still like it though I prefer Xfce, but I've had Cinnamon and prefer KDE to that.

KDE is a large heavy DE but you can really tweak it for speed, which you cannot really do to the same extent in Cinnamon. In fact KDE may be configurable to a fault.

It is very nice to use and VERY powerful ... the most powerful Linux DE I've used. But I don't actually need a lot of those features myself.

The only issue I really had with KDE is that most of the apps I use aren't KDE apps but GTK ones. KDE used different C++ libraries to build than GTK DEs do, and the GTK ones never seemed to run quite as well in KDE. And they often don't look as good due to theming issues. But that isn't necessarily enough for others to be put off KDE.

[phd21]

Hi "skjones007",

I just read your post and the good replies to it. Here are my thoughts on this as well.

Why not just install it, or install it along side of an existing operating system, and try it out for yourself. Or fully install it onto a USB flash drive stick of 16gb or larger.

I think all of the Linux Mint editions are wonderful free computer operating systems. I prefer the KDE desktop because it is the most user configurable desktop. Almost everything about the KDE desktop can be customized by the user, although you do not need to do that to use it efficiently.

Hope this helps ...

[Jim Hauser]

I have been running Mint KDE for three years starting off on an Athlon 64 (2.2 gigahertz) with 2.4 gigabytes memory on up to an FX 8350 (8 cores) with 16 gigabytes memory. I would not run anything else at this point. For me the main advantages are the Activity options and the ability to customize beyond my wildest dreams. I am not a geek or guru by any means but I found out that even average users can have great results with KDE.

Running Mint KDE off of a live boot or on a virtual machine will work but if you can dual boot or run off a separate drive that would be better. KDE really shines on bare metal. You can run the default setup or customize to your heart's content.

[mr_raider]

With the Gnome 2 - 3 transition I switched to KDe. Been 5 years and not looking back.

KDE uses less resources than CInnamon, and don't believe otherwise. The graphical effects consume less GPU overhead, and on every single Intel graphics machine I own, I found Cinnamon/Gnome flogs the CPU to no end with the fan spinning up. Flash video in chrome particularly starts to stutter in Cinnamon/Gnome.

KDE can be made as light or as heavy as you like. It's extremely configurable, and can emulate several "classic" desktops like WInXP in Win7, or behave like gnome 3 with application launcher dashboard. Mint has one of the best implementations of KDE, and the 5.8.x series is now stable and rock solid. General KDE knowledge, however, is low on the Mint forums, so I hang out a lot at kubuntuforums.net for advice about KDE specific issues.

Try it in virtual machine for a few days and see how you like. I recommend against installing it alongside an existing desktop environment, because of how much KDE is different from Cinnamon/Mate/XFCE.

On your machine I would install KDE, and then gradually deactivate desktop effects one by one if you find performance lacking. Blur, zoom and translucency are the heaviest effects. On anything INtel 3xxx series and above it runs fine.

[deleted]

I use 64 bit KDE on my Asus 1015E.
-H