5 Reasons Why KDE Plasma Is the BEST Desktop

If you have a multi-monitor setup, then anything that does not support independent virtual desktops per monitor is far from best...

Until it breaks, and it always does!

Plasma was so overwhelming to me when i tried switching from windows. I fell in love with vanilla gnome. Maybe ill switch when im better at linux

The best desktop environment is the one that fits your workflow with the fewest changes from defaults. When I try KDE I end up spending a lot of time trying to fix aesthetics. On gnome I'm just doing the actual tasks I intended to do. This will be different for everyone. There is no best DE.

Glad to hear that KDE is (hopefully) moving away from the windoze lookalike bandwagon. I have watched a lot of people learn how to use computers, and I am convinced that a clean break from m$ is the best way forward for anyone. I may try Plasma 6 but historically KDE has always looked and felt bloated to me. My hope is that Plasma 6 can replace macOS on my intel MacBook.

what is the wallpaper?

Edit: yay! found the wallpaper

The only reason to use Gnome is because for some reason you prefer the lack of control similar to MacOS. Other than that it's inferior in every single way.

I think Plasma is great but I am a Gnome guy especially since the 40 Series. Vanilla that is

The "fractional scaling" is such a broken idea. What is needed is a completely resolution independent and mostly vector based graphical system that just renders with maximum fidelity using the available hardware.

There are some main reasons:
1) Using the de facto standards instead of trying to force everyone to use their way of things
2) More options inside the DE garden avoiding messing with third party apps to modify the system
3) Big native apps ecosystem
4) The last update was or bug fixes and eye candy that everyone likes (more than security and privacy for a lot of people)
5) They have big apps unlike GNOME. Tell me if GNOME has anything that compares to Kdenlive, Krita and KdeConnect
6) They keep major versions working for a long long time like Windows
7) All in for dev freedom on their apps. You want tray? done. Want to change the window icon? done. Want to move the window? done. Want to use custom decorations? Done. Talking about DEs, almost none really like the idea of devs being able do dodge their UI standards. While GNOME devs where searching for a reason to allow wayland apps to change their icon on runtime, KDE devs would do that just because devs use that and would complain if not available.

If it reminds me of windows I don't like it. Of course I don't mean any disrespect to anybody that does like it but I use gnome and all I do is hit the Super Key and i type the program I want and hit enter and I'm on my way. No start menus to look at.

GNOME is far more stable than KDE. POP!_OS would be my fallback if the DE I am presently on ceased to exit.

Have Windows 7 look and feel is not beneficial. Also, Gnome is definitely better on Wayland than Plasma.

KDE has 2 things that Gnome doesn't: easy theming and nice developers.

Instead, Gnome is much more polished and neat and orderly than Plasma.

Too bloated. Either Mate, or Trinity

So, according to your assessment, out of the five stated reasons for why KDE Plasma is considered the best desktop environment, three of them pertain to its extensive customization options and visual aesthetics. The fourth reason cited is the effective communication and interaction with the developers, although i argue that a developer's primary responsibility is to deliver functional software rather than prioritize communication. The final reason mentioned is Plasma's superior Wayland support, which is characterized as the "best out there". At least at present. That characterization probably be subject to change in the future and isn't even an objective argue. It's your own subjective opinion, unless you have conducted benchmarks yourself and can support this with facts and data.

Another Linux user has provided an "insightful" (meaningless) assessment regarding the merits of KDE, inaccurately encapsulating the reasons for its perceived superiority as a desktop environment. For how good a desktop environment is, you prioritize customization and how you will communicate with the developers. And crucial factors, of course, don't even seem to affect you, like the level of productivity afforded by KDE, its ease of use, the extended functionality facilitated by add-ons (if supported and if even is good), the degree of seamless integration with third-party tools and applications (if so), the latency, etc.

You "nailed it".

I'd been 'trying' Plasma for six years in a row, so no, thanks. I bet I can break it with a mouse in a minute

I tried plasma 6 for a week. It's nice and sleek, but I had problems with programs running in wine, not great for a gamer. The problems were frequent and annoying enough that I switched back to cinnamon.

It being like Windows is the best aspect. Windows was designed the way it was from a lot of research.
Linux devs needs to take more note of this.

I actually stopped using KDE when they introduced Plasma. It was (and still is) very unintuitive and clunky.
Yes there are a lot of settings and it is very customizable. That doesn't scare me in the least. However, when I'm finetuning my workflow, it never works out exactly how I want it. Not despite customizability, but because of it: it always gets in your way. At that point you're better off using a tiling window manager (nothing gets in your way and you have all the power), or Gnome: uniform, elegant and pretty.

Hey how are all your windows w/ titles showing as active on your menu bar? Is that a KDE 6 thing?

Gnome FTW!

Matt, please make a video on how to to use kde + hyprland or qtile for the window manager instead of kwin. Meaning all the services of kde and hyprland or qtile as window manager in wayland same session.

Wallpaper pls

KDE Plasma is awesome and in my opinion, the best desktop environment for Linux!
And Linux market share will be higher if distros come with it by default.

What is that theme?

Since Kurumin Linux I am a KDE guy

I use garuda Kde Lite just cus its barebones but still has alot of the nice things about garuda that i like lol

KDE is the determining factor on which distro I use. Arch, Ubuntu, Debian, all linux forks are irrelevant to me. I would prefer KDE Neon over any non-KDE distro. And I'll add to that, that I would prefer the worst windows OS - 8 original even, than any gnome DE distro.

Install for KDE Plasma 6 is crashing with fatal errors !!! I have tried on different computers !!!

WHAT? No mention of the desktop cube??? 🤣 In desktop cube we trust!!!

It's better to have those settings and not need them, than need them and not have them! 😉

Upgrading to 6 broke all my custom shortcuts, and the damn "import/export" shortcut buttons don't seem to do a damn thing.
So now I have to recreate my shortcuts - by hand - on each machine.
F&*%!!!!

Open Suse with Plasma and Hyprland is a landing point for me. June 2024 will be one year in Linux and I have found a very comfortable operating solution for my PCs. Thanks Matt for the content.

Can you get link to wallpaper

KDE Plasma is simply the best desktop environment when it comes to customizability. 👍

the fact that the most customizable de can't change panels' and menus' color with a simple setting is just sad. it's like saying you can do any custom decorative wall plaster with very specific tools and materials, but you can't just paint it green. makes no sense.

Where did you get that wallpaper?

Running Arch with KDE 6 Wayland with zero issues so far. I really do love it.

5.27.10 is what I'm running. Bar seems to float. ;)

But I don't understand why KDE team doesn't make panel transparent. Opaque or translucent panel interfare with bottom part of windows. I use latte dock with variety, modern clock.
However, i now love plasma more than I loved cinnamon.

Only bad for now is it is not capable to use old themes and widgets.
I miss lightly so much.

The best being the power off and reboot buttons don't even work. What reality do you live in my dude? Endless complaints and KDE has yet to fix it. Linux always released broken junk. Windows and MacOS never do it. Retitle it to 1 Reason why KDE is garbage.

Thanks for the nice words about Plasma 6! We worked really hard on this release, and I'm so glad it's working out for people and helping them to make the best of their systems!

its funny that you made this video now because I just this week installed a vanilla Debian with KED plasma and I absolutely love it! I wish that I had found Plasma a long time ago.

Better than Gnome, worse than Windows 11.

I like your style. Opinionated but fair.

I use xfce, but im starting to worry wayland isnt going to drop soon enough. KDE is very usable, but it is a comparatively heavy desktop environment and i am a ram usage fetishist. My xfce system uses 450mb of ram on a fresh install.

Apparently experimental wayland support is going to drop this year for xfce, but if it doesnt ill be switching.