Before:

• Gnome 2 was great
• Gnome 3 was terrible
• KDE 4 was terrible

Today: KDE.

Why not Gnome:

• It's missing basic features.
• General new users startup is:
  • searching online to try and fix things
  • 50% chance of it working.
  • 50% chance of it not working because the fix doesn't work on your version of gnome and having to find another fix
• Common recommendation for missing features (to use extensions) is a non-starter since the extensions break after every update, so every update you need to go back through the general new users startup steps above.

Why KDE:

• It has all the basic features by default, and a bunch of extra stuff.
• General new user process is:
  • looking through settings and changing the 2-3 they care about
  • looking through features, trying them out to see which ones you want to use, turning on/off the 2-3 you care about
  • Never needing to look through or remember the other settings, because your computer is already set up for you.

Future:

• Gnome: more of the same, likely basic features missing until specific people are removed (could be 5-10 years, then another few years of catching up).
• KDE: Will continue making updates and consolidating similar features where it makes sense.
• Cosmic: Will continue sanding off rough edges and fill in last remaining missing features. Will probably surpass Gnome for 90% of user's needs in a year. Will probably be trading blows with KDE in 3 years and will surpass them if KDE ever makes any missteps.