Gnome. Very sane defaults and flow, customizable. Also fully navigable both via mouse and keyboard, which works great for me since I navigate my system and apps using both almost equally. It’s gotten hate for relying on extensions, but for me it makes it feel modular and customizable.
KDE Plasma. Unless you’re a keyboard heavy user, there’s no reason not choosing it. It’s the overall winner hands down.
After being puzzled all these years why anyone would choose Gnome over KDE Plasma, I think I have finally figured it out: Laptop users with keyboard preference and only a touch-pad otherwise do seem to have a better time on Gnome.
But for anything with a mouse attached, KDE Plasma all the way :)
Plasma.
The first reason I prefer it is that when internet becomes unavailable while connected to the router, it changes the icon. The second is that is settings easy and KRunner is very handy. The third is that it looks cool for me, especially while using Latte Dock. It’s transperancy effects are very impressing. The fourth is the integration of server-side-decoration for Qt apps (with Latte Dock).
TL;DR, the above reasons are completely based on look & feel and ease of use
KDE Plasma, it’s been nothing but a great experience, it’s a beast of an environment. Plus, its accompanying software ecosystem makes it 10x better.
Gnome
340 by farI really enjoyed the Deepin Desktop Environment.
I did too. It’s pretty great for windows users.
My personal choice is MATE Desktop Environment
GNOME 40 <3
I’ve tried GNOME, XFCE, LXDE, just to see what they’re like, but I always find myself coming back to KDE.
Sway for myself, GNOME for my friends :D
XFCE
Lubuntu 18.04 on my old laptop. Fast and simple to use, but there aren’t many customizations.
XFCE is my go-to when I need to choose a DE (but tbh I’m always on a tiling WM so I don’t really know if another DE would suits my needs better).
i3 on x11, but I guess that’s not a Desktop Environment technically.
I’ve been using XFCE with BSPWM as my window manager and I love it
