KDE4 Demonstrates Choice Is Not A Usability Problem

“On face value KDE 4 didn’t fundamentally change the typical
layout of the desktop. There is still a main panel at the bottom
with a K-Menu on one side of it, system tray on the other and task
manager in between. The biggest visible change in defaults is that
desktop icons now reside in a folder view widget and that the
K-Menu is completely different. However behind the scenes
everything changed and the nature of these basic desktop elements
changed as well. They all became configurable plasma widgets thus
actually providing the user even more flexibility than before.

“This could mean that KDE 4 could be even more complex and come
with an even greater learning curve than KDE 3, but that doesn’t
seem to have happened. Instead, in the experience of many including
myself as someone who typically used GNOME exactly for its
simplicity, KDE actually became at least a little simpler and more
streamlined, and I think it is further evolving in that
respect.”

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