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KDE is now my favorite desktop

(kokada.dev)
892 points todsacerdoti | 4 comments | 18 Sep 25 12:17 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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sirwhinesalot ◴[18 Sep 25 13:47 UTC] No.45289648[source]▶
We now live in a world where KDE looks nicer, more professional, and more consistent than the latest macOS. I don't know how that happened, and KDE isn't even particularly nice looking, but here we are.

For many years now KDE has focused on polish, bug fixing and "nice-to-have" improvements rather than major redesigns, and it paid off.

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whatevaa ◴[18 Sep 25 14:15 UTC] No.45289995[source]▶
And yet people still complain about some inconsistencies in UI.
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1. WD-42 ◴[18 Sep 25 14:59 UTC] No.45290530[source]▶
KDE the desktop is consistent. The problem is the applications aren't. It's completely possible to run a GNOME desktop without a single QT app, it's near impossible to use KDE without any GTK apps. And there are so, so many great libadwaita apps coming out these days. So on KDE you still end up with an inconsistent mash up of toolkits and styles.
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2. kelvinjps ◴[18 Sep 25 15:41 UTC] No.45291038[source]▶
Both DE have tools to make the UI toolkits to adapt to the DE, GTK with breeze theme and qt with libawaita theme
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3. WD-42 ◴[18 Sep 25 16:02 UTC] No.45291311[source]▶
Sure but they look pretty bad.
4. soraminazuki ◴[18 Sep 25 17:09 UTC] No.45292209[source]▶
That's completely backwards. KDE provides consistent styling and window controls across a wide range of toolkits. GNOME, on the other hand, is incapable of this, particularly on Wayland.

It's sad because I really like the aesthetics and user experience of the GNOME desktop and its applications. However, the inconsistent user interface for non-GNOME applications is becoming a deal breaker as more of them transition to Wayland. These applications have no choice but to create their own title bars and other UI elements, resulting in a mishmash of different looks, controls, and fonts. Many of them don't even include shadows around the windows because they aren't sure if they should. As a result of all of this, many third party applications look hideous on GNOME.

As much as I want to continue using GNOME, I'm increasingly drawn to KDE with each passing day due to this issue. I rely on applications like Kitty Terminal, mpv, and WINE. They all suffer from this issue on GNOME, but not on KDE. Ultimately, if I have to choose between a desktop environment and third-party applications, I will prioritize the applications. I think many others would do the same.