Replacing windows XP at home.

[Andrew Gould]

--- Jerry McAllister <jerrymc at clunix.cl.msu.edu>
wrote:

> > 
> > Joshua Lewis wrote:
> > > 
> > >    Would I be better off just going with Gnome
> or KDE? I realize once I
> > >    start installing apps that I will probably
> wind up installing
> > >    something that uses Gnome or KDE libraries so
> I am going to wind up
> > >    bloating my system any ways right?
> > > 
> > 
> > Look at them both and make a choice if you like
> either.
> > I tried both in the past, but found they were not
> for me for various 
> > reasons, so I went looking,  also tried Xfce as
> has been mentioned, but 
> > I decided I wanted to try something really
> different from things that 
> > seemed Windows like.
> > 
> > Tried WindowMaker and have been using it now for a
> long time. Here is 
> > the url www.windowmaker.info if you are
> interested.
> > As you requested lean and fast, little slow
> getting started, only 
> > because it is very different in the approach of
> say Gnome, KDE, or Xfce, 
> > but once you get used to it, works great. I also
> like dock apps, which 
> > you can get more info at http://dockapps.org/
> 
> Gee, I just use AfterStep.   Of course, that isn't
> really an MS-Win
> environment replacement.  It doesn't even attempt to
> be.   But then I 
> really do not want to have the look and feel of
> MS-Win.    I want something 
> more straight-forward and less icky.   
> 
> ////jerry
> 
> > 			Good Luck,
> > 			Sean

This is a good point here.  Whereas it's good to have
something familiar for immediate productivity, it's
also good to explore different options to experience
benefits/drawbacks that you hadn't considered before.

In *nix (includind BSD's and Linux), you're not
limited to one window manager.  You can install
several and use whichever matches your mood at the
time.

I used to use KDE and Gnome simply because the menus
contained so many applications that were new to me. 
Once I knew which applications I wanted to use, I
switched to XFCE because it's faster.  I still use
XFCE for my office productivity; but I'm still
experimenting with icewm and windowmaker on an older
computer because they "feel" so much faster.

Definitely choose a window manager that will give you
a  positive experience now; but take time to browse
*nix's other offerings.  If you don't try new things,
how can you make an informed decision?

Andrew L. Gould