Linux

KDE Plasma because I can make it look, feel and work mostly like Windows. I have to use Windows at work and don't want to have to think too hard about differences between computers I use at work vs. at home.

I currently use Gnome on my laptop, but I've toyed with returning to KDE for a while. I used KDE briefly back in the v3 and v4 days felt like it was a bit bloated compared to Gnome v1 and v2. Cinnamon is nice but a bit heavyweight on graphics. I should probably return to XFCE or Mate.

Plasma.

When I try Gnome, within a couple minutes I encounter the Save dialog that defaults the cursor to the Search field instead of the Filename field, and the top of my head goes spinning across the room, and I uninstall it.

GNOME because of PaperWM

I have an i3 and a hyprland installation.

I like tiling wms but Wayland still has some annoying issues so I like having the more stable i3 installation on my main computer.

XFCE, lightweight and has a terminal. 's all i need when i'm not trying out something like xmonad.

these days Hyprland but previously i3.

i basically live in the terminal unless i'm playing games or in the browser. these days i use most apps full screen and switch between desktops, and i launch apps using wofi/rofi. this has all become very specialized over the past decade, and it almost has a “security by obscurity” effect where it’s not obvious how to do anything on my machines unless you have my muscle memory.

not that i necessarily recommend this approach generally, but i find value in mostly using a keyboard to control my machines and minimizing visual clutter. i don’t even have desktop icons or a wallpaper.

Gnome on laptop, KDE on desktop. I go back and forth with those DEs.

TDE. Functional, stays out of my way, but still reasonably full-featured. The development team is dedicated to adding useful features while keeping the original look and feel, so I don't have to go hunting for settings that have inexplicably moved or changed defaults every time I update. It doesn't support Wayland, but I'm Wayland-neutral (that is, I have nothing against it, but I have nothing against X either).

xfce4. Stable as hell. X11. Can move windows around using just some keypresses.

none. you dont need a DE, you can just run a tiling wm and some terminals...

I settled on Cinnamon after jumping around a bit. I do still like Gnome though even if both are fairly bulky DEs.

Gnome 3 is pretty great

Currently, Plasma. But I have ADHD a bit, so I’ve gone back and forth between that and Gnome mostly. I do like Cinnamon and I really want to spend time with Xfce and maybe others just to see what feels most comfortable right now. I’m trying to go for keyboard comfort these days, so we’ll see where I land at some point!

I recently made a new linux install (to replace my constantly breaking, likely due to my own doing Manjaro install). I went with Cinnamon initially, but in order to try out Wayland, I moved to KDE plasma.

I'm on NVidia, with two different resolution screens. Which causes occasional problems. But overall it's fine.

GNOME because it's the only good option that looks modern and has proper development. Excuses of KDE fanboys that GNOME team makes weird decisions are not accepted.

KDE Plasma on all my computers and also as desktop mode on Steam Deck. because it supports the latest technologies especially when it comes to graphics (HDR, VRR) also has best support for Wayland and multi-monitors. It looks great out of the box and it has a lot of features out of the box and I do not need to battle with adding some extensions that break with almost every update. KDE Plasma is also the most flexible desktop and I can set the workflow really to fit my desires and I can actually set many options and settings. And despite all these built-in features and configurability it still uses very few system resources and is very fast and smooth. Oh and the KDE community is one of the most welcoming I have met in FOSS world, and they listen to their users instead of the our way or the high way mentality I have so often encountered in GNOME for example. So yeah TLDR KDE Plasma is the one I like the most of all in the industry, even when compared to proprietary closed alternatives.

Xfce. Partly because I've used it for a long time, but mostly because it does what I need it to do and little else.

Cinnamon. Desktop environment peaked in the Windows XP/Gnome 2 days and everything else is just change for the shake of change. :C

My only annoyance is lack of Wayland support. Tried out cosmic, but it doesn't have the Windows XP/Gnome 2 style window list.

Screenshot for anyone interested:

At the moment, my main machine is on KDE because it has very good Wayland support and isn't Gnome. I prefer Cinnamon

Budgie, because I like the way it looks.

My favourite that I use lots of places is Gnome. Love using it. Use it completely stock.

I also use KDE, which is fine, but I don’t much care for it, I always find it to be buggy and unreliable. Could well be pebkac errors, but I’ve seen it across multiple machines over the years. With this said I still use kde on one machine.

I also use sway. Which is a wayland window manager. I find it very good. I’ve heard that hyprland is also good, but I’m not looking to mess with a window manager, I just like it to be simple, so I’ve not really tried it.

Hyprland on my desktop

GNOME on my laptop

I really love both esp after KDE 6. But I use Gnome, KDE treats multiple monitors as separate entities I find the bugs distracting and there's only so much customisation I need. I slap open bar on and get to work.

COSMIC. I was using Hyprland before but I wanted to try the alpha. I found it stable enough for my use-case so I stuck with it